The Legionnaire
by Mister Cynical
Summary: The Foreign Legion has always had a reputation for attracting thieves and murderers on the run from the law. Maybe it’s true after all, it attracted a young Japanese man trying to run from his past. completed
1. Chapter 1

I don't own anything.

The Legionnaire

-Chapter One:

Martin Dogsong eyed the decimated city around him with a professional eye. This was a bad area of town. A lot of legionnaires had been ambushed around here, especially yesterday. "It's too quiet," Kalash Chamusso stated, his voice carrying across the street easily in the eerie stillness.

"Yeah," Paul Jameson agreed.

"Where the hell is everyone?" Liam Taylor added.

"Might be hiding after the explosions yesterday," Martin suggested as he glanced behind him at the rest of the section. Why was his fire team always on point? Despite his own words, Martin could feel something in the air. "Something's going to happen."

"Yeah," Kalash replied. He held up his hand and the rest of the team stopped and mirrored his hand sign. They had paused as the road the section was patrolling on emptied into a large open square with a fountain in the center.

"What's wrong, Chief Corporal?" a rough-sounding voice asked over the radio.

"No one's around, Chief," Kalash replied. "This is a market. There are supposed to be people everywhere and something just feels off."

"Right," the Chief Sergeant replied. He had taken over the section for this patrol after the Lieutenant had been rushed to the emergency room for some reason. That was in addition to his role as leader of the section's first group. Martin swept the square with his machinegun. The hair on the back of his neck stood up.

"Oh, shit." Somewhere ahead a machinegun opened up and Paul was thrown to the ground with a yelp of surprise and pain as his leg was knocked out from under him.

"Contact front! Contact front!" Kalash roared. "Take cover!"

"The fountain!" Martin snapped. It was the nearest, biggest, most solid thing to hide behind. He grabbed at the left shoulder strap of his fellow American's load bearing equipment. Kalash got a hold of the man's right side and they dragged him behind the fountain, despite the bullets tearing into the ground all around them. The low height of the fountain's edge forced the four legionnaires to their stomachs in order to seek cover.

"Who's hurt?" Kalash demanded, over the steady whine of bullets zipping by over head.

"Me," Paul replied weakly.

"I'm good," Martin replied as he cradled his Belgian-made weapon, checking it over with an experienced eye.

"Good to go, Corporal," Liam stated.

"What's happening?" the Chief Sergeant demanded.

"We're taking fire from an unknown location," Kalash reported.

"Try to locate the shooter," the Chief ordered. Kalash stuck his head up and a round slashed the camouflaged fabric of his helmet cover. He took that as a sign and ducked back down.

"No go, Chief. They're focused in on us," Kalash stated. "Can you see anything?"

"Negative," the Chief replied. "They must be using a flash suppressor. Do any of you have thermal sights?" Kalash glanced at them. Martin shook his head as he unbuckled the individual medical kit on Paul's load bearing equipment and set about trying to stop the blood pulsing from his leg.

"No, Chief."

"God damn it," the Chief swore. "Second team! Set up a smoke screen and rush to support first. Third, give them support. Second group, stand by." Martin looked back at the road leading into the square and saw two smoke grenades soar out of an alleyway. Suddenly, the roar of the machinegun seemed to double and the smoke began to twist unnaturally in the air.

"Cancel the attack! Cancel the attack!"

"What's wrong?" Kalash demanded.

"They're spraying the smoke, Corporal," Martin replied.

"They're spraying the smoke, Chief," Kalash reported.

"They've shifted fire?" the Chief asked.

"Negative," Kalash stated. "There are two machineguns. I say again, two machineguns. One's on us and the other is on the choke point."

"Shit," the Chief stated eloquently. "Piper?"

"Here Chief," the sniper replied.

"Do you have any kind of angle?"

"Negative Chief," Piper reported. "I do have a good view of the road blocks they set up to keep you from flanking them."

"Right," Chief said flatly. "Chief Corporal."

"Here," Kalash replied.

"Give me covering fire."

"The moment we stick our heads up, they'll shoot at us," Kalash replied.

"Stick your guns out and pull the trigger," the Chief ordered.

"There are civilians, Chief," Kalash protested. "We were told to check fire!"

"The civilians should have warned us," the Chief replied. "Do it." Kalash glanced at them and Martin nodded. He rolled onto his back with his machinegun across his chest.

"Ready here Corporal."

"Same," Liam added.

"On three!"

(:ii:)

"Three!" Kalash stuck his FAMAS over the edge of the fountain and pulled the trigger, spraying the opposite edge of the square with automatic hail of 5.56mm NATO bullets. Beside him Martin had finished tying off Paul's leg and opened fire with his machinegun. Kalash chanced a glance at the smoke cloud. "Holy shit." A man burst out of the cloud and sprinted towards them, firing his rifle from the hip. The ground on either side of him exploded as rounds slammed into the compacted dirt and stone. He dove forward and slammed harshly into the fountain beside Kalash.

"Fuck," the Chief growled as he scrubbed at the dust off his goggles. He tore the magazine out of his rifle and shoved a fresh one in from one of the pouches on his load bearing equipment before flipping down the FELIN monocle over his left eye. Being the section's commander, he carried the extremely expensive and, in the post Third Impact world at least, extremely uncommon French integrated electronics suite.

"Cease fire!" Kalash ordered. He quickly reloaded his FAMAS. "What are you going to do Chief?"

"Prove that thermal sights are a God send," the Chief replied. He thrust his rifle up, panning it across the square. A round slammed into the bulky combined camera/thermal weapon sight and knocked it clean off the rifle. "Shit."

"Did you see them?" Kalash demanded. The Chief just grinned and grabbed his radio.

"The target's a four story gray building," he stated. "You get that Sergeant?"

"Copy that Chief," Sergeant Chieu, the leader of the second group, replied. "Did you get that Adler?"

"Got it, Sergeant" Adler replied. A different roar sounded in the square and Kalash watched as the 89mm rocket from second group's LRAC tore through the air overhead. The resulting explosion made the very ground under Kalash jump. He peeked over the edge of the fountain and stared at the pile of rubble sitting neatly between two more buildings.

"Holy shit. Was that one of those Novel warheads?" The Chief peeked over as well.

"I think so," he replied. "Everyone good?"

"I'm great!" Paul stated. Kalash glanced at the wounded man. Martin just shrugged.

"Morphine," he stated.

"Ah," the Chief replied as he climbed to his feet and pushed his monocle back up onto his helmet. He pulled his goggles down around his neck, revealing surprisingly delicate-looking Asian features and dangerously bright blue eyes. Kalash stood too, towering over the Chief Sergeant by a good dozen centimeters. "We have made contact with and destroyed the enemy. I'd call this patrol a success."

"Sounds good to me," Kalash replied. "Think we can go back to the FOB now?"

"Please," Paul added in a far away voice.

"I think we can," Chief Sergeant Shinji Yamamoto replied. "Just another day in the Legion, no?"

"Can't say they didn't warn us," Kalash replied. "At least this beats dodging warlords back in Somalia."

"It was a lot quieter back in Japan," Shinji stated. "Need a stretcher down there, Legionnaire?"

"No way, Chief!" Paul stated. "Now where are those bastards? I'm gonna get even!"

"I admire your spirit there, but you're too late," Shinji stated.

"Shoot," Paul stated.

"At least you can apply for citizenship under the 'French by spilled blood' provision," Shinji commented.

"Upside to everything," Kalash stated, checking his watch. It had been two hours since they had left the forward operating base. Time crawled when you were being shot at.

(:ii:)

Shinji stepped into the command tent and stared at the organized chaos inside. "Good job Chief Sergeant." Shinji turned and saw that the speaker was a Captain from the regiment's command and logistic company. "Real good. Word from regiment is that you might be heading for a promotion."

"Thank you, sir," Shinji replied.

"The locals are having a shit fit over the destruction of that building, though," the Captain stated. "Expect a bitchy officer from some Civil Affairs unit and that promotion being shot down by some bureaucrat."

"Couldn't be helped, sir," Shinji stated.

"I figured," the Captain replied. "I need a team to take over a UN checkpoint a few clicks outside the city. Who do you have?"

"First team, first group," Shinji stated after a moment.

"They're down a man," the Captain stated.

"I'll be filling in for him," Shinji stated. The Captain paused and a smile curled his lips for a moment.

"Smooth. So be it. I'll give you five hours before you need to get back here to catch a VAB to the checkpoint. Get out of here."

"Yes, sir." Shinji walked out of the tent and into the blazing Sudanese sun. He looked around the tiny forward operating base that now served as the head quarters for the Second Foreign Parachute Regiment's First Company. He crossed the base quickly and found the tents housing his men. Inside all was dark and almost completely silent.

"Chief," someone greeted. Shinji nodded to the group sitting quietly in the center of the tent and moved towards them.

"Good shot, Adler," he commented, patting the man on the shoulder. The German nodded silently.

"We were just talking about citizenship," Wallace stated. "Are you a citizen, Chief?"

"No," Shinji replied as he sat down next to the section's other group leader. "Citizenship cannot be given under a declared identity."

"Still won't declare your name, eh?" Chieu asked. He and Shinji had been serving together for a long time. Shinji had been his team leader back when the Chinese soldier had been a legionnaire.

"Here Chief." Shinji glanced back and saw that he was being offered a shot glass. He took it and knocked it back.

"Whoa."

"Good, eh?" Giovanni asked. "Strait espresso. Little taste of home." Shinji leaned a little further back in his seat and saw a small espresso machine.

"How are you powering that thing?"

"The command tent's generator," Giovanni stated proudly, "a quick snip and splice here and bingo."

"I didn't here that," Shinji stated. He turned back to the group. "Anyway, I crossed certain people with long memories and longer reach." Shinji paused and considered the question some more. "Where's Chamusso?"

"Corporal's in that rack," one of the soldiers. He was the machine gunner, Dogsong. Everyone called him Dog. "What's up Chief?"

"We have something to do," Shinji stated. "Go get some sleep."

"No rest, eh?" Wallace asked. Shinji just shrugged. He'd let the team get as much sleep as possible. Shinji glanced at the youngest member of their group, an athletic Spaniard named Martinez.

"This is your first deployment with the Legion, right son?"

"Yes Chief," Martinez replied. "I was in the Spanish army for a few years, but it was too boring so here I am." Shinji nodded his understanding. "Where have you been Chief?"

"Just about everywhere," Shinji replied. "A lot of places are still having trouble maintaining order, especially under developed nations. I've been deployed to the Middle East, Eastern Europe, China, all over South America, couple of other African countries, even did some time in Mexico and the US."

"You were in the US?" Martinez asked in shock.

"Some rich fuck American pulled together a standing army a couple hundred thousand strong and tried to carve himself a country out of Mexico and parts of the American South West," Shinji explained. "We got called in to help the Mexico-US coalition. Through a couple of odd twists of fate, my unit pulled joint operations with the Americans in the retaking of New Mexico and Nevada in a pincher move with us coming from the south and the Americans coming from the north and east."

"I remember that one," Chieu stated. "Remember when Augo got in that fight with that really big Marine, because the Marine called him a traitor for leaving America for France?"

"I remember," Shinji replied. "God those two could fight. Too bad the MPs showed up. That was a good show."

"Yeah," Chieu agreed. "Too bad about Augo. He was a good one."

"Yeah."

"You must have been in for years," Martinez stated. "You could be an officer."

"Need citizenship," Wallace replied.

"Why'd you join, Chief?" Martinez asked.

"That's not a question you should ask someone who joined the Foreign Legion under a false name," Chieu stated.

"Oh," Martinez replied. "I see your point."

"Let's just say, it involved a girl," Shinji answered after a moment. "You know what I mean."

"Always does," Chieu replied.

"If you only knew how true that was," Dog commented.

"No kidding," Wallace added.

(:ii:)

Liam looked around the inside of the VAB and stretched his legs out. With only four men in a vehicle built for ten, it was actually kind of spacious, still noisy though. "Did you hear anything about Jameson, Chief?"

"There was an infection scare, but the doctors have him stabilizing," Shinji stated as he checked his rifle. With the loss of the FELIN FAMAS in the ambush, he had managed to scrounge up a short-barreled FAMAS Commando with a red dot scope mounted on the carry handle. The weapon was so new that the spray painted tan finish was still tacky. "He'll be fine, but he won't be back for a while."

"Too bad," Martin commented.

"I'm not enough for you Legionnaire?" Shinji commented.

"Of course, Chief!" The VAB pulled to a halt.

"We're here, Chief," the driver stated.

"Right." Liam pushed one of the back doors open and climbed out. He stared at the cheap plywood fence and sandbag-lined pit.

"Oh, boy." The Chief climbed out and frowned.

"Yeah," he replied, "our checkpoint."

"Check pit," Liam stated. The last two members of the team climbed out and the VAB drove away.

"What do we do, Chief?" Kalash asked.

"This is your team," Shinji stated and he pulled off his helmet and pulled on a tan colored balaclava. The sun was going down and it was getting cold. Liam was glad he had brought his watch cap and gloves. "I'm going to go check the radio and set up the laptop." Liam watched him disappear under the camouflage net draped over the pit.

"Dig in men," Kalash ordered. "It's going to be a long night."

(:ii:)

"That's disgusting." Martin ignored him teammate and tucked the wad of chewing tobacco behind him bottom lip. "Americans."

"You're just jealous that you can't get your nicotine fix," Martin stated with a smirk as he pulled his thick, insulated gloves back on. He leaned back in the folding beach chair that one of the last guys on checkpoint duty had left behind.

"Don't spit near the pit," Liam stated. "That smell makes me sick."

"Fine," Martin replied, holding up an empty water bottle. "Is Chief still up?"

"It's not him shift," Liam stated. "He and Corporal are probably both out cold."

"When's it our turn to sleep?" Liam glanced down at the watch strapped to his load bearing equipment.

"Two more hours."

"Great." Martin glanced down the road and frowned as he noticed a pair of headlights coming towards them. Liam must have noticed because he picked up the handheld night vision device and brought it to his eyes.

"It's a sedan," he reported.

"Great." Martin climbed to his feet, pulling off the glove on his right hand. He also pulled his helmet on over his watch cap and picked up his machinegun.

"Think we should wake up Corporal and Chief?" Liam asked as the car drew close enough to Martin could make out the model even without night vision.

"I don't see why," he stated as he raised his hand and the sedan slowed to a halt. Liam walked up to the window and tapped on it. The driver quickly rolled it down.

"Identification, please." The driver began jabbering away in the local dialect.

"What's he saying?" Martin asked.

"I think he's saying that he doesn't speak French," Liam replied. He tried his thick cockney English. "Identification."

"I speak good English," the driver stated.

"Good for you," Liam replied. "Identification, please."

"Of course." The man handed Liam a big red folder. The Brit opened it and leafed through the papers. "I just taking my family away from city. Too much shooting, yes?"

"Yeah," Liam agreed. "It's all here. Raise the gate."

"Right." Martin turned and lifted the flimsy plywood gate by hand.

"Go on," Liam ordered. He pointed and the car began to role forward.

"Hold it!" Martin turned and saw the Chief sprint out of the pit with Corporal in tow. "Stop the car!"

"Stop!" Liam bellowed in English. The car's back wheels squealed. The driver obviously wasn't going to stop of his own will. Martin squeezed his machinegun's trigger. The weapon roared and a line of bullet holes appeared across the sedan's hood. The engine sputtered for a moment and died. Martin kept his machinegun trained on the driver and tried to ignore the screaming children in the backseat.

"What's happening, Chief?" he demanded.

"I ran this guy's tags through the network," Shinji stated as he stalked up to the car. "This is his tenth trip out of the city tonight. I just wanted to ask what was up. Guess we know now. Innocents don't try to run. Open the window!"

"He doesn't speak French," Martin stated.

"Open. . ." Liam began, but stopped as the Chief drew his PAMAS pistol and slammed the pistol grip into the window, shattering it.

"Where the fuck were you going?" Shinji demanded. The man began speaking rapidly in the local dialect. Shinji pressed the muzzle of his pistol against the man's temple and pulled the hammer back with his thumb. "Where were you going?"

"I just wanted to get my family out of the city!" the man screamed in perfect French.

"Than why'd you take them back in nine times?" Shinji demanded. "Keep them in your sights, Dog."

"Not a problem, Chief," Martin replied. The older soldier nodded and he holstered his pistol again. The driver's eyes were wide as he looked around. Suddenly he lurched to the side. Martin hesitated for a split second as he tried to get a shot without endangering the wife or children, but Shinji had already grabbed his pistol again. It cleared its holster and discharged twice from the hip, barely high enough to angle down through the car's window.

"Don't move!" the Chief snapped, aiming the weapon at the car's other occupants.

"What's happening?" Martin demanded, the muzzle of his weapon jerking back and forth as he tried to ignore the screams of the man's wife and children. Shinji leaned into the car through the shattered window and pulled out a cell phone.

"Dumb bastard lurched over and snatched this thing up," he stated as he set the cell phone on the car's roof. "Get the family out of the car, Corporal."

"Right."

"Is it a bomb, Chief?"

"Maybe," Shinji stated. "I hope so, or I just shot an innocent man. Taylor!"

"Right here, Chief," Liam stated.

"Get in the pit and radio the FOB," Shinji ordered. "I want engineers out here now."

"Right away, Chief," Liam replied as he disappeared into the pit.

"Grab her!" Martin spun to see Kalash, half inside the car and already holding two squirming children, trying to subdue the wife. Shinji fired twice from the hip, striking the woman in the lower torso, but she managed to grab the cell phone as she went down and quite suddenly the car had become a fireball rushing at Martin's face.

(:ii:)

"Shit!" Liam ripped the burning cover off the pit and threw it off into the desert as he climbed out of the pit. The illumination from the burning car allowed him to easily make out the scene before him. Martin was the closest. He was flat on his back where the blast had thrown him. "Dog?" Liam kneeled and shook the larger man.

"What happened?" Martin asked.

"The car blew up," Liam stated. "How do you feel?"

"I think my leg is broke," Martin stated.

"Fuck!" Liam jerked upright and saw that the Chief had dragged himself into a sitting position and was aiming his pistol around wildly. The man was covered in blood and his left leg was horribly mangled. "Sound off! Dogsong!"

"Here!" Martin croaked.

"Taylor!"

"Here Chief," Liam replied as he moved to the man's side.

"Corporal!" There was no answer. "Corporal!" Shinji looked around jerkily. "Where the fuck is Chamusso?" Liam stood and moved to the other side of the burning wreck. He found Corporal, what was left of him, lying on the other side of the car. He had been inside the car trying to drag the children out when the sedan exploded. He was quite definitely dead. Liam moved back to Chief's side. "Did you find him?" the man demanded.

"He's dead, Chief," Liam replied.

"Fuck!" He grabbed Liam by the front of his load bearing equipment. "Get on the radio and report a situation zulu. Do you hear me? Tell them it's a situation zulu!"

"I hear you, Chief," Liam replied. He turned and sprinted back to the pit. A minute later he was out again and checking his teammates. By the time he made it back to the Chief, the older soldier had lost consciousness, the hand clutching his French-made Beretta was sprawled across his chest and his blood was soaking into the sand under him.

(:ii:)

Hikari Horaki sprinted towards the VTOL landing pad as she saw the lights from a VTOL drawing close to the field hospital. "Does anyone know what happened?"

"It was a VBIED, Doctor." Hikari turned and saw one of the young nurses pacing her. "We have two seriously injured."

"I'm sorry I woke you." Hikari turned back to see that it was the hospital's nightshift doctor, a man named Fahad Ayoob, who was speaking. "Both these guys are supposed to be in critical."

"Its fine," Hikari replied. "So, who are these guys?"

"Just a pair of French Foreign Legionnaires," Doctor Franks replied. He shuffled the two folders he was holding. "A Legionnaire Martin Dogsong and Chief Sergeant Shinji Yamamoto."

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. Yeah, it's another serious one from me. Now, I have no idea about the structure of the French army and I couldn't find out anything about it, despite my attempts, but I did find out what the units were called. So, I made a team analogous to a fire team, a group into a squad and a section into platoon. If it's wrong. . .meh. Can't say I didn't try. And yes, Legionnaire is apparently a rank as well as a title. Think Private.

I wasn't really going to post this story, but I didn't have anything else. You guys know how I like to get something out to you every week. As for the pole, I'm still getting e-mails. I'll give the results next week.


	2. Chapter 2

I don't own anything.

The Legionnaire

-Chapter Two

Hikari bowed her head low as the VTOL came in for its landing and sent sand flying everywhere. Finally it touched down as the side doors banged open. A couple of the nurses rushed forward to help the crew chiefs unload the two litters. Another tall man, a combat medic by the looks of him, climbed out and looked around for a moment before spotting Hikari and Fahad. "Doctors?" he asked in French.

"Yes," Hikari replied slowly. Since joining the UN she had learned half a dozen languages, some better than others. "All we heard was that it was a VBIED. What can you tell us?"

"We got Dogsong stabilized en route," the medic stated. "He's got a compound break in his left leg, probably a couple broken ribs, a dislocated right shoulder, and numerous lacerations to his appendages. Yamamoto is still critical. He's gonna loose his left leg and we can't seem to get him to stop bleeding."

"I'll take Yamamoto," Fahad stated. Hikari nodded. He was the most experienced doctor and the head surgeon.

"He's that one," the medic replied as he pointed to the litter heading for the trauma tent. Fahad nodded and jogged after the litter bearers.

"I guess I'll look after the other one," Hikari stated.

(:ii:)

Martin groaned as consciousness returned to his body and brought along a whole lot of pain. "You're awake."

"I wish I wasn't," Martin stated as he turned his head to look at the speaker. She was a pretty dark haired woman in a white coat.

"I'm Doctor Hikari Horaki," she stated with a smile. Martin had to smile back. He was about to ask what she was doing later when reality smacked him over the head and he jerked upright.

"Where's Corporal and Chief?"

"Slow down," Hikari stated, putting a hand lightly on his shoulder. "You're pretty badly hurt yourself." Martin stared at her for a moment before looking down at himself. He reached for the blanket and a bolt of pain flew through his shoulder.

"Damn it!"

"You dislocated your shoulder," Hikari stated gently. "Your left leg is broken in a couple places and you have six broken ribs. Try not to move."

"What about Corporal and Chief?" Martin pressed.

"You mean Chief Sergeant Yamamoto?" Hikari asked. Martin nodded and groaned in pain. His neck hurt too. "He's in surgery right now. He was a little worse off than you."

"What about Corporal?" Martin asked. Hikari frowned. "Corporal Chamusso. He's, like, eight feet tall, about a buck ten soaking wet, skin blacker than tar, and these funny little scars under his eyes. You can't miss him."

"You and the Chief Sergeant were the only ones flown to this hospital," Hikari stated. "I don't know anything about your Corporal."

"Where are we?"

"You're in a UN field hospital in the Democratic Republic of the Congo," Hikari stated. "Where were you injured?"

"Somalia," Martin stated. "The area still hasn't stabilized after the Second Impact."

"Not too far from home, then," Hikari stated.

"Home is Calvi," Martin stated. "Please, I need to know about the rest of my team." Hikari nodded and stood up.

"I'll see what I can do."

(:ii:)

Hikari pushed the tent flap out of her way and stepped into the baking Congo sun. She looked around and frowned as she noticed that the VTOL from that night was still there. The medic she had spoken with had laid out a towel and was reclining topless in the son. Hikari made her way over. "Medic?" He jerked awake and looked around wildly before calming down.

"Afternoon, Doc," he returned and he sat up fully and crossed his legs. "How are those Legionnaires?"

"Dogsong is fine and Yamamoto is still in surgery," Hikari stated. The medic glanced at his watch and whistled.

"Talk about a marathon surgery." Hikari glanced up at the grounded aircraft.

"Engine troubles?" She didn't know much about VTOLs, but the pilots were always complaining about how the sand messed up their engines.

"One of the filters came loose," the medic stated. "Its lucky we set down when we did, the master alarm went off a few minutes after you guys took charge."

"That is lucky," Hikari agreed. She glanced back at the tent that housed the hospital wounded, to include Martin Dogsong. "Were there any other soldiers at the scene?"

"A QRF VTOL had beet us there," the medic stated.

"What's a QRF?" Hikari asked.

"Quick Reaction Force," the medic explained. "It's a group of soldiers and medics that get sent out when something happens. The soldiers had secured the site and the medics were working on the wounded."

"What about the original team?" Hikari asked.

"I saw one body bag and one kid sitting by himself," the medic explained. "The kid had the thousand yard stare. I've seen it before. It was his team that got blown up."

"Was the kid African?" Hikari asked.

"European," the medic stated.

"Thank you." Hikari began to turn when the medic called out again.

"Give these to the Chief." Hikari caught the bundle that had been tossed to her and unwrapped them. The soft cloth held a pair of glasses with bits of metal sticking out of them. "They're the reason why you aren't rooting through the Chief's ruined eye balls to stop the bleeding."

"I'll tell him that." Hikari turned and made her way towards the OR tent. She saw the flap open and a tall man in a bloodied surgeon's smock step out. He lit a cigarette and glanced up as he heard her footsteps. "How is he Fahad?"

"Alive," Fahad stated. "He lost the leg."

"That was a forgone conclusion though, wasn't it?" Hikari asked. Fahad nodded and took a long draw on his cigarette. "You've been at it for hours."

"We couldn't stop the damned bleeding," Fahad stated, "internal bleeding, external bleeding, the works."

"He's stabilized?"

"Just barely," Fahad replied. "He slipped into a coma before we got him, but we're fairly confident he'll come out of it. How's the other guy?"

"Demanding to know where the rest of his team is," Hikari stated.

"Did you find out?"

"Yamamoto is in surgery and there was a kid and a body bag at the scene," Hikari stated. "The medic said the kid had the thousand yard stare. Have you every heard of it?"

"It's an old term for a symptom of PTSD," Fahad stated. "Its not really mentioned much in the medical community anymore, but the grunts still use it because they still get it."

"What is it?"

"It's when someone's seen all they can take and than the see some more," Fahad explained. "They just kind of stare off into space like they're seeing beyond."

"So that's what that's called," Hikari commented. She had seen a lot of men who looked like that. "How many are in a team?"

"There are four in a Foreign Legion team," Fahad stated, "although, it's odd to have a Chief Sergeant leading a team. They must be short staffed."

"That's all four."

"Don't tell him about the body bag," Fahad stated. "Let him heal physically first."

"Doctor!" Fahad tossed his cigarette in the sand and sprinted back into the tent.

(:ii:)

"Hello Martin." Martin turned and saw that the pretty doctor had returned.

"Did you find them?"

"The Chief has stabilized," Hikari stated. "One of the medics who brought you here told me that he spotted a shell shocked kid, but he was busy transferring you and Chief to his VTOL."

"Must have been Taylor," Martin stated. "He was the only one of us who didn't get hurt. Damn lucky bastard. He must have stolen the Chief's luck."

"What do you mean?" Hikari asked.

"The Chief's bullet proof," Martin explained. "I've served with him for a few years and there's a Sergeant in our section who's known Chief for more than a decade. In all that time, Chief's never been seriously hurt once, but it's not for lack of trying."

"So, he's really lucky?"

"Yeah," Martin agreed. Hikari reached into the pocket of her coat and produced a small cloth.

"Maybe its good equipment," she stated as she held out the bundle. Martin opened it and stared at the safety glasses.

"Are these Chief's?"

"Yes," Hikari stated. "The medic had them." Martin nodded absently as he brushed a thumb over the ragged shrapnel embedded in the single-piece lens.

"Equipment is good, but it's not everything," he stated finally, "at least not in these wars. Did you know, right before we got blown up, we were ambushed? I've been in that country for months and I've been attacked a lot, but that is the first time I've been shot at."

"I thought there was a lot of shooting in the Somalia," Hikari stated. Martin shrugged.

"There's always shooting around us, but not at us."

"How can you tell the difference?"

"They sound different," Martin stated. "Bullets around you hiss. Bullets at you snap." The doctor stared at him.

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-five," Martin stated. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"You're so young and you can tell me what it sounds like to be shot at," Hikari stated.

"I'm not young for a soldier," Martin replied with a laugh. "God. Go preach to Caston. That bastard is only nineteen." The doctor didn't laugh. If anything she looked horrified. "Oh, now you're going to give me a speech about how war is wrong, aren't you?"

"War is wrong," Hikari stated. "It causes nothing but suffering."

"War is necessary," Martin stated flatly.

"No it's. . ."

"It is," Martin interrupted. He had been forced to defend his positions numerous times, probably more than any other soldier because of his current service. "You sit here and help people, people who are injured in this war. Are you doing anything to stop them from being hurt? No, you aren't. I am. I am fighting a necessary war against evil people. If I wasn't, the people of this country and a dozen others would just go on suffering. Now sit there and tell me that war isn't necessary, or maybe you're one of the people who think that the Europeans shouldn't have gotten involved in Africa."

"The Europeans coming here and getting into these fights has only aggravated the whole situation here!" Hikari snapped fiercely. Martin had heard that argument before.

"These people aren't fighting," he stated. "They're committing genocide. War is between two armed groups. This is a slaughter. Look at history, no amount of talking has every stopped a madman from killing millions of unarmed people." The doctor stared at him for a minute and finally walked out of the tent without another word. Martin lay back in his rack, noticing for the first time that he had straightened up while defending his views. "Guess I can scratch that one off my list. Why are women always so ready to give their opinion and never ready to hear about someone's opposing point of view?"

(:ii:)

Hikari stormed into the staff's recreational tent. How could anyone believe that war was necessary? All the wars Hikari had lived through had always ended in death no matter who won. "You don't look so good." Hikari paused and turned to see Fahad sitting on the couch enjoying a cigarette and pointedly ignored the glares that several nurses were sending his way.

"I just had a little chat with our other resident Legionnaire," she stated.

"Ah."

"So, what was the big emergency?"

"Yamamoto's ICP spiked," Fahad stated. Hikari frowned at the term. It sounded vaguely familiar. Fahad caught her expression. "His intracranial pressure. The pressure exerted on the brain by the surrounding fluid. I had to cut out a piece of his skull in order to relieve the pressure before the pressure made his brain go squish."

"Technical term?"

"Very," Fahad replied. "This latest problem is bad. His brain could be royally fucked. We thought we might be able to take him off life support before, but this means we can't. Something might swell and bingo, he forgets to breath." Fahad pulled out a new cigarette and lit it with the stub of his old one. "I take it the other guy is in good enough shape to be pissing you off."

"Yeah," Hikari replied. "Do you think war is necessary?"

"Necessary," Fahad repeated. "Yes it is, but you're asking the opinion of a soldier." That caught Hikari by surprise.

"You're a soldier?" Fahad pulled up his sleeve and proudly showed off the tattoo on his bicep. Hikari paused for a moment. "Is that supposed to mean something?" Fahad gawked at her for a minute before lowering his sleeve sheepishly.

"No, no. Of course not." He took a deep drag on his cigarette before leaning his head back on the couch and staring at the ceiling of the tent. "I hate not being able to do more. If I at least had all the right equipment, I could really help Yamamoto more."

"You're doing all you can with the equipment you've been given," Hikari replied as she sat down at well. "He's in good hands." Fahad chuckled.

"It's nice to have my ego stroked by another doctor instead of a nurse for once," he commented dryly.

(:ii:)

"Stop squirming!" Martin scowled at the nurse looming over him with a big needle in her hand. "If you don't stop moving, this is going to hurt a whole lot." Martin immediately froze and turned his head as the nurse set about giving him a new I.V. This was his punishment for scaring off the pretty, nice doctor. He just knew it was.

"Me and my big fat mouth."

"What?" the nurse asked and a shot of pain flew up Marvin's arm.

"Damn it woman, are you trying to hit bone?" he shrieked.

"You have tattoos!" the nurse yelled back. "Stop being such a wimp!"

"These tattoos were done by someone with a little skill," Martin shot back. "They didn't hurt nearly as bad." A draft blew in and Martin glanced up to see a pair of big nurses pushing in a stretcher. They moved to the cot besides Martin and transferred their patient to it. "He looks like shit."

"He got blown up," one of the nurses stated. Martin's jaw dropped and he stared at the man's face. His features were impossible to make out through the bandages and Martin looked wildly for some mark to prove his fears. He found it on one of the few non-bandaged places on the man's body. It was a small cross on his bicep with the initials KN on one arm and RA on the other.

"Oh my God. Chief. . ." The nurse quietly finished setting up Martin's I.V. and pushed him gently back one his cot.

"You need rest."

"But, but. . .that's my Chief. He's. . ."

"He'll be fine," the nurse replied soothingly. "Doctor Ayoob is taking care of him, and he's one of the best doctors in the world. Now try to sleep." She patted his uninjured arm gently and walked away. Martin stared at the tent overhead with the machine forcing breath into the Chief Sergeant's lungs thrumming away in the background. Sleep? How could he possibly sleep now?

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. I know this one's a little slow going, but Shinji's fucked up and he ain't gonna bounce back. This story isn't meant to be action, it's meant to let me try my hand at a new genre. I just know that's going to piss off my established fans. Don't worry, I'll get around to my usual stuff eventually. I even have something special planned.

Ready for a good rant? I am done with reading all Harry Potter and Naruto fics, at least the ones I don't already read. The authors are all, it is my belief, the same person. They are probably all thirteen years olds, who live in a happy middle class families, wear all black, and think that characters aren't interesting unless they wear all black, go on about how horrible their lives are, and are suddenly forced to join their enemies because their friends betrayed them. They can't even think of decent reasons so they just have the secondary characters/friends suddenly turn out to hate the main character for some porly portrayed petty, greedy and/or ridiculous reason. They all seem to think they're being deep, but emo isn't deep. It's more shallow than any other que. I love it how they say that they relate with Johnny the Homicidal Maniac when, really, they're almost identical to his faceless victims. Oh god, don't even get me started on the grammar and coming from me, that's something.

Well, I feel better now. Why yes, none of my favorite stories have updated it two weeks. How on earth could you tell?


	3. Chapter 3

I don't own anything.

The Legionnaire

-Chapter Three:

"As the Commander of NERV, I order you to drop that weapon."

"After all that I've done, do you really think I'll do that?"

"As your father. . ."

"Oh, it's way too late for that."

(:ii:)

Shinji jerked awake and took in his surroundings wildly. There was no light. Where was he? "Chief?" Shinji twisted and stared at the young man on the cot beside his. He was barely visible in the gloom.

"Dogsong! What the fuck is going on?"

"Calm down, Chief," Martin stated. Pain flared throughout Shinji's body and he crashed back onto his cot with a roar of pain. "Nurse!" Shinji tried wildly to push himself back up, but his right arm was held firmly in place. Strong hands grabbed him by the shoulders and he pivoted, bringing his left fist up into his attacker. The man fell back with a cry. "Chief!" Shinji stared at Martin. "Calm down. We're okay." Lights flickered on and Shinji looked around the tent.

"Where are we?" Shinji gritted out. The pain in his chest was getting worse.

"You're in a UN field hospital." Shinji turned and saw that the speaker was a young woman in scrubs. She kneeled by the man Shinji had knocked out. "Jack! Wake up, Jack!"

"Was that necessary?" Martin asked.

"Don't surprise me," Shinji stated as he looked around more carefully. His and Dogsong's cots were only two of what looked like a few hundred.

"Lay back down," ordered the woman, a nurse? "You just got out of surgery a few hours ago and you might reopen your stitches."

"Fine." Shinji laid back down and watched as the nurse finally got the big man to wake up. He stood slowly, pinching his nose in an attempt to staunch the blood flow.

"You broke my nose!"

"You surprise me," Shinji replied flatly. He looked back at Martin. "What happened?"

"You don't remember?" Martin asked. Shinji frowned, the only thing he could remember was a fireball.

"I remember going to the checkpoint and a car pulling up, than there's a fireball."

"We got blown up," Martin stated. Shinji growled in annoyance and touched his face. Through the bandages he could feel that at least he still had two eyes and a nose. He wiggled his fingers and glanced at his right arm. He still had two arms, but his right arm was in a cast from fingers to his shoulder. "What are you doing?"

"Making sure I still have two of everything I'm supposed to," Shinji gritted. His body was killing him. He wiggled his toe and frowned. He glanced down and saw only one bulge in the blanket covering his lower body.

"Uh. . .Chief?"

"Dogsong, do I have two feet?" Shinji felt his body beginning to shake. "I have two, right?"

"You lost a leg, Chief," Martin stated. Shinji's stomach rebelled and he lurched onto his left side, emptying what little was in his stomach. "Chief? Nurse!"

"No," Shinji rasped. "I'm okay." He rolled onto his back and pushed himself back up into a sitting position. He pulled the blanket away and stared at the bloodied bandages wrapped around his leg. "Oh my God."

"Nurse!"

"I'm fine damn it!" Shinji snapped. The nurse was already by his side.

"Just lay back," she ordered gently as she pressed on Shinji's shoulder. Shinji ran his hand through his short hair and froze as his finger tips ran across puckered skin strung together with thick wire. He carefully laid back and laid his good arm by his side. Suddenly he didn't want to move for fear of finding something else wrong with him. "I'm just going to give you something to help you calm down."

"I lost a leg," Shinji repeated. The nurse nodded absently as she filled a needle. Shinji felt the sting in the crook of his arm. The world went dark around the edges again and than finally went completely dark.

(:ii:)

Martin glanced up as a tall Arabic man stopped in front of his cot. "You're Martin Dogsong?"

"Yeah," Martin replied. "Who are you?"

"I'm Doctor Fahad Ayoob," the man stated. "I was the one who operated on your Chief Sergeant."

"You saved his life?" Martin asked.

"I just patched him up," Fahad replied. "I heard there was a little bit of excitement last night."

"Chief punched out one of your orderlies," Martin stated. He glanced over at the sleeping man. "The nurse put him back out and he hasn't moved since."

"I see," Fahad replied. He stepped between their cots and nudged the Chief's soldier. The wounded soldier jerked upright sharply, one hand snatched as Fahad's scrubs. "Easy there Chief, I'm a friend." Shinji stared at the man uncertainly for a moment and than laid back down with a muffled groan of pain. "You need to relax, Chief. You'll tear open all your stitches."

"Who are you?" Shinji demanded.

"I'm a doctor here," Fahad replied. "You're doctor to be exact. Do you mind if I check your wounds?"

"Fine." Martin watched as the doctor helped Shinji pull up his gown.

"Oh my God."

"You're not helping," Shinji growled, shooting Martin a sour look.

"Sorry Chief." Martin had to look away.

"Everything's intact," Fahad stated. "I half expected at least half of these to have reopened after that stunt you pulled last night."

"I don't like being surprised," Shinji replied. Martin nodded and reached for the bandages covering the Chief's face. "What all's wrong with me?"

"Aside from the obvious, not much," Fahad replied. "You only had a few first degree burns on your face that we wanted to keep clean. They've healed up pretty well, but your eyebrows may never be the same. There's also a hole in your skull."

"I could have you that," Martin stated. Shinji shot him another sour look as he bowed his head to let the doctor examine the back of his skull.

"Normally I'd make you wear a ridiculous little helmet to protect the soft spot, but I doubt you're going to be up and moving for a while," Fahad stated. "You seem to be healing well enough, so I'm going to schedule a surgery to close that hole soon."

"Alright." Fahad straightened up. "How do you feel?"

"Like a car blew up in my face."

"That's to be expected," Fahad stated. He turned to Martin. "What about you?"

"My leg is itching like crazy," Martin stated. "And how much longer do I have to wear this damn sling?" Fahad took the clipboard from the end of Martin's cot and flipped through it.

"I'd give the sling a few more days," he stated. "When your shoulder popped out it strained the muscles, but nothing tore. Consider yourself lucky."

"If you say so Doc."

(:ii:)

Alison Morgan frowned as she walked towards her next patient. The man glanced up and his eyes widened as they came to rest on her. "Oh, no. Not you again."

"You're one of my patients," Alison stated. "Consider yourself lucky."

"People keep telling me that I should," Martin stated. Alison checked his clipboard and noted, with some relief, that nothing was required at the moment. She really didn't want to hear him whine today. "Doctor Horaki will be in to see you soon." She moved to the next patient. His eyes were closed, but she had heard about what he did to Nicolai.

"Mister Yamamoto?" His eyes opened sharply and turned on her.

"Scared?" Martin asked. Alison considered beating the smart mouthed little bastard over the head with his own bedpan. She rose above the temptation and pushed her cart up to the other man's cot.

"I just need to change your I.V."

"Fine." Alison pulled the new I.V. bag from her cart and set about swapping it for the old one.

"At least he doesn't complain," she commented.

"He's the Chief," Martin replied as if it just made perfect sense.

"You may want to practice more," Shinji commented. Alison glanced down and frowned as she noticed blood pooling in the crook of his elbow.

"Damn it." She didn't even bother looking at Martin. She just knew that he'd be grinning smugly. "All done." Shinji looked down at his elbow and nodded before closing his eyes again. Alison frowned and turned back to the loud-mouthed legionnaire.

"I heard you already pissed of Doctor Horaki," she stated.

"She started the argument," Martin shot back. "It's not my fault she won't allow herself to even consider things from my point of view."

"She's a nice woman and she likes working with patients," Alison stated. "Play nice and she'll work with you, so that I don't have to put up with you."

"You're no Florence Nightingale," Martin commented.

"You'd have pissed her off too," Alison shot back.

"Hey. . ."

"Probably. Now shut the hell up." The both fell silent and glanced at the Chief Sergeant. He opened one eye and managed to glare at both of them with it. "Some people are trying to recover."

"Sorry," Martin squeaked.

"I have more patients to see," Alison added.

(:ii:)

Hikari made her way into the tent and frowned as she noticed her patient bickering with his nurse. The Chief Sergeant gave them a quiet dressing down and that promptly ended whatever they were arguing about. "Hello Martin." Martin turned and grinned at her.

"Hey Doc."

"How are you feeling?" Hikari asked.

"Pretty good," Martin replied. Hikari glanced at the older man beside Martin. He was slumbering again.

"What's this I heard about fighting?"

"Well. . ."

"He surprised me," Yamamoto cut in. He opened his eyes and stared at her. "French isn't your natural language, is it?"

"Well, no," Hikari admitted. "All the same, I happened to think that I speak pretty good French for someone who picked it up a few months ago."

"True," Yamamoto replied.

"You're in the Foreign Legion, right?" Hikari asked. Yamamoto nodded. "So French isn't your first language?"

"Fourth," Yamamoto stated. "My first language was Japanese." Hikari stared at him. With his bright blue eyes, Japanese wouldn't have been her first guess.

"I'm Japanese too," Hikari replied. "I'm Doctor Hikari Horaki."

"Shinji Yamamoto," the Chief replied as he extended his left arm with a small smile. Hikari began to reach forward when her body jerked back. Her thoughts were all the way back to the middle of her seventh year of school, to a young man with blue eyes and a small, nervous smile. A young man named Shinji.

"Oh my God."

(:ii:)

Martin watched as the doctor sped out of the tent. "I guess the nurse should have told you not to piss off the Doctor."

"I have that affect of woman," Shinji replied as he lay back down.

"I thought you were popular with women," Martin stated.

"That's just bullshit that Chieu makes up," Shinji replied. "I haven't had a girlfriend in years."

"Oh." Martin frowned as he considered that. "How come Sergeant Chieu keeps saying that you have girlfriends all over the place?"

"I have one night stands all over the place," Shinji stated. "Chieu was raised in a really religious family. He thinks it's not right to have sex with a girl you aren't in a relationship with."

"Bummer."

"What's that mean?"

(:ii:)

Fahad watched as his fellow doctor almost sprinted out of the tent. "Hikari?" She turned and stared at him. "Are you okay?"

"I know Shinji Yamamoto."

"The Chief Sergeant?" Fahad asked.

"He's a murderer." Fahad sighed and rubbed his temples.

"We have got to do something about this attitude about soldiers that seems to have suddenly popped up," he stated in annoyance. Hikari stared at him in confusion for a minute.

"What?" Realization dawned on her face. "No! That's not what I mean! I know Shinji Yamamoto. His name is really Shinji Ikari."

"I'm not sure I see where you're going with this," Fahad admitted.

"I went to school with him," Hikari stated. "He killed his girlfriend and his dad, than he disappeared."

"Ah," Fahad stated. He frowned as he considered what to say. "Well, I guess that does make him a murderer."

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. I know this one's kind of short again. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I write chapters until they're done. Sometimes that just doesn't take too long.


	4. Chapter 4

I don't own anything.

The Legionnaire

-Chapter Four:

Shinji stared bleakly down at the blanket covering his lower body. A wave of nausea struck him and he lay back down. His head throbbed suddenly and he groaned. "Perfect."

"Chief?"

"Yeah?"

"You okay?" Martin asked.

"I'm fine," Shinji stated. "I guess my Savate career is over."

"Too bad." Shinji felt an eyebrow rise at the other man's tone.

"You don't sound too disappointed," he commented.

"Uh. . .well. . .uh," Martin stuttered.

"Is this because of that time I kicked you in the head?" Shinji asked. He made sure that every man under his command was an excellent fighter, armed or not, and the best way to learn to fight was to fight.

"Of course not!"

"Sure," Shinji replied dryly. "You know, if I'd wanted to, I could have broken your jaw with that kick." Martin scratched his chin as he considered this.

"I suppose." Shinji reached for one of the glasses on the table between their cots and took a sip. He had a bad taste in his mouth. "What do you think the rest of the section is doing?"

"QRF duty probably," Shinji replied. "You don't need a full section for QRF duty, you only need groups."

"You don't think Sergeant Chieu would take command of the section?" Martin asked. Shinji frowned as he considered the question and whether or not he wanted to discuss the situation with a legionnaire.

"Well," he began, "Chieu is a damned fine group leader, but he doesn't have the experience to swing a section yet. I don't think he even knows how to work the FELIN system. Hopefully, the Lieutenant will be back soon."

"Yeah," Martin agreed.

(:ii:)

Fahad frowned as he considered the woman sitting next to him. She looked pale and shaky. "So, what's the story?"

"What do you mean?" Hikari asked.

"Tell me what you think you know about Yamamoto," Fahad stated. Hikari straightened sharply, probably at how he had worked the question.

"He's a murderer."

"Who told you that?" Fahad asked.

"It was one of my best friends," Hikari stated. "She lived with Ikari and they worked together. She knew him really well."

"Who was his girlfriend?"

"She was in our class and she worked with Ikari too," Hikari stated. "It really surprised everyone when we came back and they were together," she added, almost to herself.

"Came back?" Fahad asked.

"We lived in Tokyo-3," Hikari explained.

"The city that got attacked by those monsters?" Fahad asked. "I saw them and the giant robots on the news."

"Ikari, Ayanami, and Asuka all worked for NERV," Hikari stated.

"Who's Ayanami and Asuka?" Fahad asked. "And what's NERV?"

"Ayanami, Rei was Ikari's girlfriend and Sohryu, Asuka was my best friend," Hikari explained. "And NERV is the company that fought the Angels." Fahad frowned and tried to remember how many years ago that had been.

"Wait, they worked for this NERV group, right?" he asked. Hikari nodded. "They couldn't have been more than eighteen."

"Asuka was fourteen. Ayanami and Ikari were about the same age," Hikari explained. "They were the pilots of the robots." Fahad stared at her.

"Why the hell were kids fighting the monsters?" he demanded.

"Asuka told me once that they were the only ones who could make the robots work," Hikari explained. Fahad leaned back in the couch and lit a cigarette. Kids having to fight monsters because they were the only ones that could, what a fucked up situation that was. "One of the Angels blew up and we had to evacuate the city. When we came back Ikari and Ayanami were a couple. I'd never seem them so happy."

"And he killed her?" Fahad asked. Hikari nodded. "And his father?"

"His father was the commander of NERV." Fahad flicked his cigarette's filter away and lit a new one. He rose to his feet and stretched. "What do you think?"

"Well," Fahad frowned as he thought of what exactly to say. "I believe that what's past is past. That man, if he is who you think he is, has made something new of himself."

"He's still a murderer who has never paid for his crimes!" Hikari snapped.

"So you're saying that a man can never redeem himself for what he's done?" Fahad asked. Hikari froze, her jaw hanging open in mid-rebuttal. "Is punishment for him what you believe is right or is it personal?" Hikari leaned back against the couch and Fahad walked towards the exit.

(:ii:)

"Afternoon." Shinji glanced up at the voice and nodded to the doctor, his mouth full of what passed for food. He swallowed thickly and finished his glass of water. "How's the food?"

"Terrible," Shinji replied. "And I've been to America, so I'm a pretty good judge of quality." Fahad chuckled and moved to Shinji's side. He lowered his head and felt the man prod the wounds on the back of his head.

"I want to get you back into surgery pretty soon," Fahad stated. "Your ICP should have come down by now due to all the barbiturates we've been putting in you."

"What's ICP?" Shinji asked as he leaned back against the cot.

"Intracranial Pressure," Fahad stated. "The hole in your skull was to relieve the increasing pressure in your head. We can probably close it up."

"How?"

"The piece of skull is in a pouch I created in your torso," Fahad stated. Shinji took a deep breath, he felt nauseous again. "Too much information?"

"Way too much," Shinji replied. "My fault though."

"Don't ask unless you really want to know," Fahad stated. He glanced back at Martin. "I guess arguing with his nurse tuckers him right out."

"I suppose," Shinji replied. Fahad glanced around and Shinji automatically did the same, searching for any interlopers even though he didn't know why.

"Doctor Horaki says she knows you," he stated.

"Who?" Shinji asked as he refilled his glass from the pitcher and drank again. The bad taste from before was back, overriding even the horrible flavor of whatever he had just eaten.

"The brunette doctor that was just in here," Fahad stated. Shinji frowned and racked his brain.

"Oh, her. I thought she was a nurse."

"No, she's a doctor," Fahad stated.

"I would have thought a doctor would be better at changing an IV," Shinji commented as he sipped his glass. Now Fahad frowned.

"Alison changed your IV," he stated. "She is a nurse. I'm talking about the woman who came in after that." Shinji racked his brain again, but came up blank.

"I've only talked with the one woman today," he stated. He didn't like the way Fahad was staring at him. "What? Is there something wrong?"

"Do you remember you name, rank, and serial?"

"Yamamoto, S. Chief Sergeant," Shinji stated. He ratted off the string of number that comprised his social.

"What's the rate of fire for the FAMAS in automatic?" Fahad demanded.

"F1 or G2?"

"Both."

"Nine hundred to one thousand rounds per minute for the F1 and one thousand to one thousand one hundred rounds per minute for the G2," Shinji stated. "What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing apparently," Fahad stated. "You're fine. I'd like to schedule that operation for tomorrow, is that okay?"

"Its fine," Shinji replied. Fahad nodded and made a note on the clipboard he was carrying.

"How have you been feeling?" he asked. "Any dizziness, light headedness, or nausea?"

"You're kidding, right?"

"I'll take that for a yes," Fahad commented as he made another note. Shinji finished his glass and refilled it. "Thirsty?"

"No. I've just had a bad taste in my mouth," Shinji replied. Fahad nodded and marked something down again. "There's something wrong with me, isn't there?"

"There's a hole in your head, you're missing a leg, and your right arm is broke is about a dozen places," Fahad rattled off. "Need I say more?" Shinji fought the urge to look down at the blanket and stare at the swell where his remaining foot lay.

"You're good right there," he stated.

"Thought so," Fahad replied. He checked his watch. "Don't eat anything more, okay?"

"Don't worry about that."

(:ii:)

Fahad stepped out into the burning sun and frowned as he noticed a VTOL coming in from the south. He looked around and noted that none of the orderlies were rushing towards the landing pad. "Hey Mac!"

"What's up Doc?" Mac asked as she finished her cigarette. She was one of two smokers working for the hospital. Fahad was the other.

"Do you know where that VTOL is from?" Fahad asked.

"Somebody from the Legion," Mac stated. She pulled out another cigarette and patted herself down for her lighter. She shot him a look and Fahad pulled out the lighter she had loaned him an hour ago. The VTOL came in low and touched down. "Why don't you go talk to him?" Fahad stared at the man who had climbed out and saw the light catch on his ranks.

"I don't like officers," he stated.

"Weren't you an officer?" Mac asked.

"I went to college after I got out," Fahad stated. The officer saw them and began walking in their direction. "Oh shit. Quick, distract him."

"Too late," Mac stated. She smirked at him and moseyed away.

"Are you a doctor here?" The man asked in French. Now Fahad could see his rank, a lieutenant.

"I'm Doctor Ayoob," Fahad stated as he shook the offered hand. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm Lieutenant Swan," the man stated. "I heard you had a few of my men here."

"Chief Yamamoto and Dogsong?" Fahad guessed. Swan nodded. "I do. I'll take you to them if you'll please follow me." Swan nodded and followed after Fahad as he walked towards the tent containing their patients.

"How are they doing?"

"They're stable," Fahad stated. "Yamamoto will need more surgery tomorrow."

"How long till they're back in action?" Fahad hesitated slightly.

"You haven't heard about what happened to the Chief?" he asked. Swan shook his head. "Chief Yamamoto lost his leg just below the knee." Swan froze in mid-stride.

"What?"

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but the Chief won't be returning to military duty," Fahad stated as he stopped to wait for the man to recover.

"Oh Christ," Swan managed. "The Chief. How could this happen to him?"

"If you play with fire," Fahad intoned. Swan nodded slowly.

"I suppose." He looked around. "This isn't much of a hospital."

"It's still in the temporary faze," Fahad stated, accepting the change of topic as he resumed their course. "We're trying to build a few permanent buildings, but someone keeps lobbing a few mortars at it every once in a while. A lot of the local militias seem to think that we're only here to treat peace keepers, so they don't like us and the local civilians are too scared because of that to come here for help."

"Shame," Swan commented.

"Yeah."

(:ii:)

Alec Swan looked around the inside of the tent and frowned. He hated everything there was to hate about hospital, the smells, the sounds, everything. "They're over there." Alec nodded and followed after the tall Arab. He found his two men immersed in a card game.

"I do hope I'm not interrupting."

"Nothing important sir," Shinji stated. He laid down his hand and turned to look at him.

"Says the man who keeps winning," Martin growled as he threw down his hand in disgust. "Good afternoon sir."

"Evening," Alec corrected absently. He stared at his senior NCO in disbelief. "I never thought I'd see you in this kind of predicament."

"Neither did I sir," Shinji stated. "What are you doing here? If you're up, you should be with the section."

"I'm on light duty now," Alec explained. "I should be getting off it pretty soon, so don't worry about that. How are you both feeling?"

"Pretty poor at the moment sir," Martin stated as he shuffled the cards again.

"How long have you been in the section?" Alec asked.

"A few years sir."

"And you didn't know that Chief's the biggest card shark in the regiment?" Alec asked. "Pay more attention son. If you two were playing anywhere else he would have cleaned you out."

"I'm the second biggest," Shinji stated. Alec frowned and tried to think of who could be the first. He couldn't think of anyone.

"Who's the first?"

"You sir," Shinji stated. Alec chuckled.

"It's a gift." He spotted a chair on the other side of the Chief's cot and dragged it between his two men for him to sit on.

"Speaking of gifts, how's that infection clearing up?" Chief asked.

"All gone," Alec stated. Martin dealt the cards and Alec grinned. "Royal flush."

"I told you to watch what you stuck your dick in," Shinji commented. Alec felt his cheeks burn as the youngest legionnaire stared at him.

"Chief?"

"Yes sir?"

"Shut up."

"Yes sir."

"And Chief?"

"Yes?"

"You're going to pay for destroying my FELIN."

"You'll get a new one."

(:ii:)

Hikari frowned as she watched the three men laugh and play cards. "Oh yeah, he's totally evil."

"Shut up Fahad," Hikari growled. "What kind of man could kill the woman he said he loved?"

"I'm sure he had his reasons," Fahad stated. "Why don't you ask him about it?" Hikari considered his suggestion. "You'll have to introduce yourself again."

"Why?"

"He doesn't remember you at all," Fahad stated.

"What does that mean?" Hikari asked.

"Well, maybe you just didn't make much of an impression or he's rather forgetful or his ICP might not be the only thing wrong with his head," Fahad stated.

"What are the odds that he just doesn't remember me?" Hikari asked.

"Just about zero," Fahad stated. "His kind doesn't forget anything, no matter how small. They stay alive because they pick up the details and remember them. He could probably tell you how many cars are on his normal patrol route as well as what make and color they are. There's no way in hell he'd completely forget meeting someone."

"What could it be?" Hikari asked.

"TBI probably," Fahad stated. "This could be bad."

"I'm a doctor, not a brain surgeon," Hikari stated.

"Not a military doctor either," Fahad commented. "TBI is traumatic brain injury. You see it quite often in modern conflict where soldiers keep getting blown up. So far he's only showing signs of a mild case. If his symptoms persist, it might be much worse."

"What can we do?"

"There are three ways he can go," Fahad stated. "Better, worse, or the same. He gets better, hurray. He stays the same or gets worse; well, all we can do is manage the symptoms. We can't help him here. Maybe you'll get what you want after all."

"I never said I wanted him dead!" Hikari snapped.

"You want an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth," Fahad stated. "What did you think he would loose for taking a life?

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. It's funny how almost everybody thought that Asuka was his girlfriend. Is that because everybody likes Asuka or because nobody thought he'd kill Rei?

Here's your story for the week. I'm old. I didn't think I was until someone showed me Toonami clips on youtube. I've been watching Toonami since Moltar ran things. Well, I should say, I was watching Toonami. I can't stand the latest version of Toonami or Adult Swim. Toonami is horrible and Adult Swin just can't hold up against the Midnight Run or even older Adult Swim for that matter. Anyway, I was sitting there watching all these amazing clips. I didn't even remember that they used to give morality lessons until I saw them. They should at least bring that stuff back. Now if you'll excuse me; I'm not crying, I just have a bit of my childhood stuck in my eye.


	5. Chapter 5

I don't own anything.

The Legionnaire

-Chapter Five:

Hikari frowned as she glanced at the man sitting beside Martin's cot. He laid down his hand of cards and looked at her. "Can I help you?"

"I was just wondering how long you were going to be here," Hikari stated. It wasn't that he wasn't welcome; it was just weird to see an uninjured soldier at the hospital.

"I've got a few more days until I'm off light duty," the man stated. "I'm going to stay until than or Chief recovers from his surgery. Have we met?"

"No," Hikari answered. The man's face lit up and he shot to his feet.

"I am Lieutenant Alec Swan," the man stated smoothly as he kissed Hikari's offered hand.

"And I thought Chief was the Romeo of the section," Martin commented. Alec seemed to deflate. He sat back down and picked up the hand the other legionnaire had dealt him.

"He is the Romeo of the section," Alec admitted. "I swear, that man can walk into a bar and walk right out with a girl on each arm."

"He's kind of a living legend sir," Martin stated. "I remember the first time I saw him in dress uniform. I'd never seen that many awards in one place, let alone on one man."

"He has a lot of awards?" Hikari asked.

"Yes," Alec stated. "He is a legend among the regiment, if not the entire Legion. This little incident will add to his story."

"Why?" Martin asked.

"Well, you see, from what the medics said, they had to pry his PAMAS from his fingers," Alec explained. "Frankly, I'm surprised they could get the damned gun out of his hand at all. This will be a popular part of his lore, maybe as popular as the Sudan story, though I doubt it."

"I heard that one, sir," Martin commented. "Is that true?"

"I asked him once and he said it is," Alec stated. "The Chief wouldn't lie, he doesn't need to." Hikari frowned at the awed look on the younger man.

"What happened?" she asked.

"It was a few years ago on a peace keeping mission in the Sudan," Alec began. "The Chief's unit got ambushed and in the confusion he and another Legionnaire got left behind. His unit figured it out fast and they began searching for him, but they couldn't find him because it was getting dark. The next day he arrived back at the fob, which was fifty miles away, with the other legionnaire over his shoulder, no rifle, an empty pistol, a dull knife, and bloody knuckles." Alec grinned brightly. "It wasn't the first story about Chief, but it was the one that made him a legend outside the regiment."

"You think that makes him a hero?" Hikari demanded. Alec frowned.

"She's anti-war sir," Martin stated. He stared at her. "Maybe you missed the most important part of this story. The Chief walked fifty miles, fighting the heat, cold, and enemy to save his fellow legionnaire. This wasn't about him killing man after man by himself, this is about him protecting someone." A rather awkward silence prevailed until Fahad appeared.

"Surgery's done," he announced. "The Chief is recovering now."

"Everything went well?" Alec asked.

"As well as expected," Fahad stated. "We'll wheel him in once we're sure that he's completely stable."

"Alright," Martin replied brightly. Fahad glanced at Hikari quickly and turned back to Alec.

"And I need to speak with you outside Lieutenant." Alec frowned and set down his hand.

"Alright."

(:ii:)

Hikari frowned as she watched Fahad and the French lieutenant walk out of the tent. "Damn it! Right when I had a winning hand." Martin set about shuffling his cards again. "So, the Chief's okay?"

"Fahad is one of the foremost specialists when it comes to head injuries," Hikari stated. "He's also one of the best general practitioners I've ever seen."

"What's he doing here?" Martin asked.

"Some doctors are doctors because they want to help people," Hikari commented sharply.

"Not the best in their field," Martin shot back. "I know the doctors who work in the field. They're either military, former military, or good people and great doctors, but not their best." Hikari stared at him.

"What does that make me?" she asked.

"Well, I doubt you ever were or ever would be military," Martin replied. Hikari considered his words. Hadn't Fahad mentioned that he had been military? "Don't suppose you play cards, do you?"

"No."

"You obviously haven't been stuck out here long enough," Martin stated.

"I've been here for a few months," Hikari protested.

"I guess you guys keep busy."

"Yeah," Hikari replied. "Yesterday a few of the locals even brought a sick kid here, so maybe they'll start trusting us."

"And you like that idea?" Martin asked.

"I like the idea of helping people."

(:ii:)

Fahad lit his cigarette and looked around the camp. It was nearing noon and everyone with a lick of sense had retreated to the partially air-conditioned tents. "So, what's this about?" Alec asked as he lit his own cigarette, the smell of burning Turkish tobacco quickly overpowering everything.

"It's about Doctor Horaki," Fahad stated. "I want you to get Chief Yamamoto out of here as fast as possible."

"Why?"

"Doctor Horaki knows who he was and what he did before joining the Legion," Fahad stated. "She wants to expose him."

"How could she know?" Alec demanded. "No one knows about Chief's past. He's made sure of it. He has turned down numerous commissions and offers of citizenship because he would have to reveal his real name."

"She knew him before," Fahad stated.

"What could he have done to piss her off so much?" Alec asked.

"Apparently, he killed his girlfriend and father and fled the country," Fahad answered. Alec was silent for a minute as he finished his cigarette and used it to light a second.

"I don't care. The Chief's saved my life a dozen times over," he stated finally. "Why do you want to help him?" Fahad took a drag on his own cigarette and pulled up his sleeve. Alec's eyebrows arched as he noticed the tattoo on his bicep. "2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment."

"From the best company in the unit," Fahad added.

"First?"

"Fourth."

"I'd be inclined to disagree."

"I'm sure you would sir," Fahad replied. Alec laughed and took a long draw on his cigarette. "Take my advice, get him out of here."

"I'll get on the horn," Alec stated. "You'd be surprised what dropping the Chief's name can make happen."

(:ii:)

Shinji stared at the bearded man through the sights of his stolen pistol. "Put the gun down Third Child."

"No," Shinji stated. "You killed her."

"You killed her," Gendo shot back, casting an uncaring glance at the blue-haired corpse sprawled in the corner.

"That wasn't her," Shinji stated. "I loved her. I can tell." Gendo Ikari's eyebrow rose slightly.

"She told you what she was." It wasn't a question.

"We didn't have secrets," Shinji answered anyway.

"You disgust me," Gendo growled.

"I don't care," Shinji replied.

"As the Commander of NERV, I order you to drop that weapon."

"After all that I've done, do you really think I'll do that?"

"As your father. . ."

"Oh it's way too late for that," Shinji interrupted. He lowered the pistol slightly and pulled the trigger. He wanted to see the pain in that man's eyes. He wanted to see something, anything. The hefty .40-caliber hollow point slammed into Gendo's shoulder and knocked him roughly from his chair. Shinji, long accustomed to his father's aptitude for treachery, was around the desk almost before the old man hit the ground. Gendo stared up at him uncomprehendingly as he clutched his shoulder. "I don't think you felt that," Shinji stated. He leveled Misato's pistol again and Gendo's left kneecap seemed to explode. Now the man screamed. "I'm not planning on fighting my way out of here," Shinji stated. "I have ten rounds left."

(:ii:)

"Fuck!" Shinji jerked awake and looked around his surroundings wildly.

"Do you always wake up like this?" Shinji turned sharply and stared blankly at Martin. Than the pain tore through his chest and put him down hard.

"Ouch."

"Want me to call a nurse?" Martin offered.

"I'm good," Shinji replied with a dismissing wave. His head throbbed and he ruthlessly stomped down of the memories flooding his mind. He shoved them back into the corner of his mind where they belonged. "I could really use a cigarette."

"Here." Shinji turned and saw Alec standing on the other side of his cot with a pack of old French cigarettes.

"Stop!" Shinji spun and let out an involuntary yelp as pain shot through his torso. Instead of a threat, his nurse was glaring at them. "You cannot smoke in here!" Okay, maybe she was a threat after all

"Oh," Shinji replied. "Can I got get some fresh air? I'm feeling nauseas again."

"I'll take him," Alec offered.

"Absolutely not!" Alison snapped.

"Can I go out to not smoke?" Shinji asked. "I really am feeling nauseas." Alison looked torn between shooting him down and wanting to help him.

"You just had surgery," she stated weakly.

"I'll take him out in a wheelchair." Shinji turned to look at the newcomer. She was a young nurse and startlingly bright red hair. Alison looked relieved.

"And make sure he doesn't smoke, Mac," she ordered.

"Scout's honor," the red haired nurse replied as she crossed herself. Shinji decided that he was going to get along just fine with this new nurse. Alison nodded and quickly grabbed a wheelchair. Alec moved to Shinji's left side and slung his good arm around his shoulders to help him into the chair. He also palmed the pack into Shinji's hand.

"Let's get out of here."

"No problem," Mac replied in perfect French. She pushed him outside with Alison in tow. Finally happy that they were just going for a quick walk, she left them to their own devices and Shinji slipped a cigarette between his lips. Mac produced a lighter for him.

"Thanks."

"Sure thing," Mac replied. "I'm Andy Mackenzie, but everyone called me Mac."

"Shinji Yamamoto," Shinji replied as he held out his good hand. "Everyone calls me Chief."

"Nice to meet you." Shinji shook her hand and took a cloud of smoke deep into his lungs with a sigh of satisfaction. "Eew. That smells horrible, just like the ones Doctor Ayoob smokes."

"He's French Foreign Legion," Shinji replied. Mac stared down at him.

"How do you know?"

"I've been in the Legion for about two decades," Shinji stated. "I just know these things."

"Ah," Mac replied. "I think Doctor Ayoob wanted to talk to you once you woke up. I'll go get him. Just stay here and stay quiet. If you see Alison come, well, you're a soldier aren't you? Just dig a hole and hide in it."

"Will do," Shinji replied. Mac nodded and walked off towards another tent.

(:ii:)

Hikari watched as the topic of her thoughts sat quietly enjoying a cigarette. Shinji finished it and used it to light a new one. Fahad had told her to ask. What could it hurt? She walked towards him and frowned as she noticed him straighten slightly. He turned and nodded to her. "Shinji Ikari." His face went blank.

"What? Come closer, I don't hear so well anymore." Hikari frowned and stepped forward. She certainly would never have expected what came next. Shinji's good arm shot out and grabbed the front of her scrubs. With a quick tug she was sent tumbling to the ground and Shinji was on top of her in a heart beat. Hikari felt something sharp press against her throat and Shinji's face contorted into a sneer. "They sent you to kill me?" he demanded. "I'm insulted. Maybe I should just slice you up and send you back to them as a message." Hikari gasped as the pressure on the weapon at her throat increased.

"Ikari!" Shinji froze. He stared her dead in the eyes with an unreadable look.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Hikari Horaki," Hikari stated. Shinji's eyebrow rose slightly and his eyes swept over her. Hikari sighed and slowly reached for her hair. It was a bit shorter than it used to be, but she managed to wrangle it up into two ponytails. Shinji's eyes widened.

"Oh."

"Yeah," Hikari replied. "Could you get off me please?" Shinji slowly rolled himself off of her and she stared at the glittering scalpel in his hand. "Where did you get that?"

"I stole it," Shinji replied with a shrug. "You would too if you were me."

"So, you're scared of the cops catching up with you?" Hikari asked.

"I don't give a shit about the cops," Shinji replied as he struggled to get into his wheelchair. "I have much scarier enemies to worry about." Hikari watched as he picked up his cigarette and cursed. "Perfect. Just perfect."

"You have bigger problems to worry about," Hikari stated.

"Do you have a lighter?"

"No."

"Than I don't have bigger problems," Shinji replied. He stared at her. "I know what you want. I did it. Whatever they said, I did it."

"How could you?" Hikari demanded. "You loved her."

"It was because I loved her," Shinji stated. He was staring at the sky, absently blowing on his cigarette in an attempt to coax the cherry back to light. "For her, I would kill."

"But you killed her!" Hikari shrieked. "Not someone else!"

"I did." Hikari stared at him.

"I don't understand," she stated.

"Of course you don't," Shinji replied as he tossed the cigarette away, "I haven't explained a damn thing."

"Than why don't you explain it?" Hikari asked. Shinji stared at her.

"Because I don't owe you anything," he stated flatly. "And because I had to put it all behind me."

"How could you possibly put it all behind you?" Hikari asked.

"I kept myself busy," Shinji snapped irritable. He was staring at the sky again. "I forced all those memories down and keep them there. I'm Shinji Yamamoto now."

"Why?"

"Because it hurts too much to think about," Shinji replied. He turned back to her and Hikari could have sworn there were tears in his eyes. "I can't stand to think about what I did. I loved her, don't doubt that, and you have no idea how much it hurt." He reached up and touched his eyes. He stared at his wet fingers and scowled. "Just drop it. Believe everything they told you and leave me alone."

"I have a right to know why you killed her," Hikari stated. "Rei. . ." she hesitated as he shot her a deadly look at the name, ". . .and I might not have been close, but I think we were at least personable."

"I still won't tell you," Shinji stated, but his expression softened slightly. "Some day they'll catch up with me and kill everyone who knows, so why ask?"

"Who?"

"You'll live because you don't know," Shinji stated. "I refuse to have my sins damn anyone but me."

"Having a smoke break?" Hikari turned and saw Fahad standing a few feet away with Mac by his side. "Hey Chief. How do you feel?"

"Like I've spent the night drinking," Shinji answered. "How long was I out?"

"The surgery was yesterday," Fahad stated.

"I need your lighter." Mac glanced nervously at Hikari and Shinji followed her gaze. "She'll keep her mouth shut. I doubt she cares if I'm killing myself slowly. Hell, she probably wishes I'd speed it up." Hikari took a step back in shock at the bluntness of his statement.

"I. . ."

"Don't bother," Shinji replied. "I've lived a long time with a death warrant on my head. It doesn't bother me." Mac produced her Zippo and lit Shinji's cigarette. "Thanks." He took a deep drag. "I'm starving."

"I'll get you back to the tent," Mac stated as she took the handles of his wheelchair. "Just finish that thing before we get there or Alison will give me hell and we won't be going for any more strolls."

"Shame." Hikari watched them disappear, still chatting amiably. She turned to Fahad.

"I don't want him dead."

"I don't think you know what the hell you want," Fahad replied.

"I want the truth."

"Truth is a dangerous thing."

"I don't care."

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. Keep in mind, if you kill me there will be no new chapters. You know I love giving you guys something new, so if I don't update, something big went down. This time it was all the porn of my computer making it freeze. Please note, the eighty gigs of porn on my computer are not mine. Honest.

Now for my standard bitching. This week's topic is Naruto. In total, its a pretty good show, even in English. Surprisingly, or perhaps not, Rock Lee is popular with Marines. He's a man who's made himself through strait hard work. Hard work is something we get. The main problem I have with it is the talking. They stretch out one fight because the two guys stop fighting and start waxing philosophical. That sucks. Then there are the fans. I swear, Naruto must be on after their bedtimes. I guess their parents are just lenient, after all, they buy all that designer goth ware for their kids and let the little fuckers whine about how alienated and unloved they are. God I hate emo kids.


	6. Chapter 6

I don't own anything.

The Legionnaire

-Chapter Six:

"I am fully mobile and completely lethal!" Shinji sighed and watched as Martin flew around their cots on crutches.

"Sit down before you hurt yourself."

"I've been down for almost a week," Martin stated. "Not all of us have hot little redheads to wheel us around." Shinji smirked rather smugly. Martin sat down, suddenly quite deflated. "It's not fair."

"No its not," Alec agreed. He glanced down at his watch. "My ride will be here pretty soon. Sorry to leave you guys."

"At least we can keep ourselves entertained now sir," Martin replied as he picked up the deck of cards.

"Yeah," Shinji added, feeling the packs of cigarettes under his pillow.

"Lieutenant?" Alec turned and saw one of the nurses standing at the tent's entrance. "The VTOL is on approach."

"Thanks." Alec turned back to Shinji and Martin. "Well, I guess I'll see you two later."

"I'll be back as soon they get this damn cast off sir," Martin replied. The three carefully didn't mention Shinji's return to the unit. Alec glanced around and leaned down.

"I'm going to get you out of here soon Chief." Shinji's eyebrow arched.

"This is about Horaki?" Alec nodded. "It doesn't matter sir."

"Yes it damn well does," Alec stated. "I won't have the best SNCO in the god damned French military rot in some fucking Jap jail."

"Its fine," Shinji replied. "I'll take care of things here." Alec seemed to pale slightly.

"Uh. Need I mention how much shit you'll be in if you whack a UN doctor?"

"If I do that, they won't find her," Shinji stated. They both glanced at Martin.

"I didn't hear a damn thing," he said quickly.

"Remember a good legionnaire will help his boss move," Alec stated sagely. "A really good legionnaire will help his boss move a body." Martin stared at him blankly for a minute before he began laughing so hard it doubled him over. "I wasn't joking, was I Chief?"

"You mean that bird in Malta?" Shinji asked. "That was no big deal sir." Martin had stopped laughing at that and was now glancing between Alec and Shinji.

"Still, thanks for that. She was heavy."

"I didn't want to mention that," Shinji stated.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Alec asked.

"Chief?" Shinji turned and saw Alison pushing her car. "I have to give you your sponge bath early to make sure your latest wounds stay clean." Shinji turned and glanced back at Alec.

"I will be just fine, sir."

"I bet." Alec shook Shinji's hand and the older man's eyebrow rose slightly as something was covertly passed to him. "You said a good soldier should never be without one of these."

"I did, didn't it?" Shinji carefully slipped the knife under his pillow. "Now if you'll excuse me sir, I have something rather important to be getting on with."

(:ii:)

"How does he do it?" Alec wondered.

"Do what?" Alec turned and nodded to Fahad. "Taking off Lieutenant?"

"For now," Alec stated. "This won't be the last you hear of me. After all, you have my top kick here."

"God bless the NCOs." Fahad tossed his cigarette down and scuffed it out. "He seemed rather uncaring about Doctor Horaki."

"I just don't think he sees her as a threat," Fahad stated. "There's an old saying: when you get the thousand meter stare, make sure you see that little bastard twenty yards away who's about to pop you."

"I see what you mean," Fahad commented. He turned slightly and Alec pulled down the brim of his patrol cap as the VTOL swept in for its landing. The legionnaire smiled as he noticed the French markings on the aircraft.

"Thank you for your help Doctor."

"We take care of our own," Fahad replied. Alec nodded and held out his hand. Fahad shook his hand firmly and Alec climbed into the VTOL.

"How's the Chief, Lieutenant?" The pilot asked.

"He's recovering," Alec replied. He paused as he considered that he had never met the pilot, a full Colonel before. He shrugged it off easily enough. The Chief had been around for a long time.

(:ii:)

"Hey Chief!" Shinji turned and saw Mac dragging a chair up between the two cots.

"Hey Mac." He glanced at Martin. "That's Mac."

"Nice to meet you," Martin stated as he finished shuffling his cards. "Are you allowed to play cards?"

"I'm off duty," Mac stated. "And all the other nurses just preach about how I should quit smoking in the rec tent."

"Ah," Martin replied. He shuffled the cards a few times more than necessary. "That was a joke, right Chief?"

"What?"

"The lady in Malta," Martin stated.

"Ugh." Shinji shivered at the memory. "Can hardly blame the poor guy. I'd have done something rather drastic myself if I'd woken up next to her."

"Uh. . ."

"Deal the cards Dog."

"Yes Chief."

(:ii:)

Hikari frowned as she watched the nurse play with Shinji and the other legionnaire. "You talked to him, right?" Hikari turned sharply and stared at Fahad.

"What?"

"You talked to him, right?" Fahad asked again. Hikari glanced back at Shinji.

"Yeah."

"So?" Fahad pressed.

"He told me to believe everything they told me," Hikari stated.

"Well that's good, isn't it?" Fahad asked. "You can be justified in your hate now."

"I told you," Hikari stated rather sharply, "I don't want justification, I want the truth." One of Fahad's eyebrows rose slightly.

"You aren't the mindless sheep I thought you were," he commented. Hikari scowled.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she demanded.

"It was a compliment," Fahad stated. "Don't you know how to take a compliment?"

"That wasn't much of a compliment."

"You've been working with me how long?" Fahad asked. "You should know; I don't do many compliments. You should also know; the truth can be very dangerous."

"That's pretty much what he said," Hikari commented.

"Well, you didn't seem to believe it from one of us, maybe you'll believe it from both of us," Fahad stated. "Don't go looking for things unless you're prepared for the consequences. Now if you'll excuse me, I had to go have a word with the Chief."

(:ii:)

"Evening Chief."

"Evening Doc," Shinji returned without looking up. He was above being distracted, especially with a winning hand.

"How'd your day go?" Fahad asked. Shinji's iron will twitched. He knew why the doctor was asking. He wanted to know if Shinji had forgotten anything and Shinji was scared that, just maybe, he had. Shinji set his cards down and took a breath. He recounted his day as quickly and with as much detail as he could remember. "Good. Sounds like you're getting used to life here."

"I guess." Shinji's hand clenched sharply as Fahad scribbled something on his clipboard. The man would never know how close he came to Shinji beating him senseless just to find out what that clipboard said. "So, what's wrong with me?"

"You sure you want to know?" Fahad asked. Shinji frowned and took a sip of water. He refilled his glass. "How do you feel?"

"My head hurts."

"Your head or the sutures?" Fahad asked. Shinji paused.

"The sutures," he stated. Fahad scribbled something down and a crack ran up the cup in Shinji's hand. He swore as water dribbled out and quickly dumped it back in the pitcher. "Take it easy. Lights are in an hour."

(:ii:)

"How is he?"

"Recovering, I suppose," Fahad replied. He looked at the notes he had scribbled down. "His sutures hurt, which is normal and he spent nearly thirty minutes recounting how he had spent the day mostly in bed."

"I think you're making him nervous," Hikari commented. "You think the TBI is getting better?"

"He's still drinking a lot," Fahad commented. "I don't know if that's because of a bad taste or just his experience fighting in deserts. I didn't want to ask. I'm trying to keep him calm."

"I think he's too sharp for that," Hikari stated flatly. "I think you're seriously freaking him out."

"Maybe." Fahad read his notes again. Things were looking up, for however long that may last. Experience had taught him time and time again that brain injuries were never so easy.

(:ii:)

Shinji stared at the tent overhead. He usually never had trouble sleeping. This wasn't usually. He glanced to his left and saw that Martin was out cold, still clutching his new deck of cards. "Mister Ikari." Shinji shot up and stared at the young doctor standing by his cot.

"What do you want?"

"I know some people who want to talk to you," the doctor said. Shinji seized him up and fingered the knife he had been given. He wasn't impressed. It'd be easy enough to kill the kid. 'I'm sick of this.'

"Alright," he said aloud. "Just so you know. I can kill you where you stand. You're alive by my good graces." The doctor wasn't impressed. He even stepped forward, pushing the wheelchair closer. Shinji was sick of being taken lightly. He lashed out and the doctor's eyes shot open as the knife slipped through his skin. He stumbled back and clutched at the flesh wound.

"You crazy. . ."

"Quiet down," Shinji interrupted. "We can't have everyone else waking up. This place is full of soldiers. They like me better than you." With some difficulty, Shinji managed to maneuver himself into the wheelchair. "Lead the way." The doctor, one hand still pushed against the paper cut on his throat, nodded and stepped behind Shinji. 'If they sent him to kill me, I am not going to be happy.'

The doctor pushed the wheelchair out into the night and Shinji stared at the sky. If there was one thing to be said for these countries, it was that the sky was beautiful without the lights of a city nearby. They headed for one of the few permanent buildings, a small communications shack with a tall radio antenna next to it. The doctor pushed him inside and turned on one of the old telecommunications screens before stepping outside. The man on the screen considered him for a moment, though it was hard to tell with the robotic visor covering his eyes. "Mister Ikari."

"Yes?" Shinji asked. The man's ancient face split into a small smirk of amusement.

"You are a hard man to find," he commented. "Running away to the Foreign Legion is a rather old idea, don't you think?"

"I think it worked pretty well," Shinji stated. "How did you find me?"

"The moment your friend Miss Horaki uttered the name Ikari, there were a dozen reports coming to us," the man stated. "Our people are everywhere." Shinji scowled slightly. He should have expected that. He had been warned, but still he had doubted how powerful they could be. "Do you know who I am?"

"You're SEELE," Shinji stated. The man nodded. "Gendo Ikari told me about you. In the end he just started screaming facts. I think he really thought I was just trying to get information out of him. He didn't believe that I loved Rei the way I did."

"We never would have believed he was so weak," the man stated.

"Give him some credit," Shinji countered. "He only told me after his knees and elbows had been blown off." The man nodded solemnly. "You didn't send that guy out there to kill me, did you? I'd be rather annoyed if you did."

"Doctor Fairchild isn't here to kill you," the man stated. "We have more respect for a man who can survive for over twenty years in the French Foreign Legion. He is here solely to bring you to this meeting."

"So you want to find out what I know before you try to kill me?" Shinji asked. The man laughed.

"Try to kill you," he repeated. "Rather confident aren't you?" Shinji smirked.

"I've had a lot of people try to kill me. I'm still here. They aren't." The man's expression turned to one of amusement and he nodded his understanding.

"We don't want you dead." Shinji froze and stared at him in disbelief. "Certain. . .things came to light after Ikari was killed. You did us a favor."

"So I've been running all this time from nothing?" Shinji demanded.

"Yes," the man stated. "In return for your favor, we took care of the legal proceedings in Japan. Only those in NERV and those like Doctor Horaki are aware of what you did. As far as the government of Japan is concerned, you have done nothing wrong." Shinji sat back in his wheelchair. Had he wasted his life running from nothing? "You are a free man Mister Ikari."

"Yamamoto," Shinji corrected. "My name is Shinji Yamamoto." The man was silent for a moment as he considered that. Shinji had not wasted his life. No, he had lived his life better than he ever could have any other way. He had helped saved lives and countries and ideals. He had, in some small way, affected how the world changed and, he wanted to believe, it had changed for the better.

"Very well," the man stated. "I don't suppose you'd be interested in working for us, would you? We need someone of your abilities to take control of NERV." Shinji stared at him the man in disbelief. Him? Be the commander of NERV?

"No thanks. That's not my style."

"I see. Have a good life Mister Yamamoto." The screen went blank and Shinji stared at it. Just like that? He was a free man? No, apparently he had always been a free man.

"Well shit." Shinji chuckled and lit his cigarette. Alec had been kind enough to leave him a lighter too, even if it was a cheap disposable that was almost empty. "Hey you! I'm done in here." The doctor stepped inside. He silently took the handles on Shinji's wheelchair and pushed him out. "Stop."

"What?"

"Stop," Shinji repeated. He could see the sky just starting to lighten on the horizon. "Leave me here. I want to think about some things."

"Fine." Fairchild pushed the wheelchair next to the tent's opening and walked off. Shinji took a deep drag on his cigarette and leaned back into his wheelchair. He felt strangely lighter. Was this what being free felt like?

"What to do now?" Shinji wondered aloud. He had never really planned for a future beyond the Legion, half expecting the Legion to get him killed and half expecting SEELE to catch up with him and beat the Legion to it. Now neither could end his life really. So, what to do now?

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. Well, I'm sick as a dog. I spent two nights freezing my balls off at Fort Dix. Was it worth suffering through that for a little live-fire grenade play? Yes, yes it was. Explosions make everything better. But I'm still sick. I was also in a hurry to post last week's story, so I didn't get a chance to really cut in, so here goes.

I missed an update date without warning and nobody mentions it. What's up with that? Everyone knows, or should know, that I update once a week or I tell you I won't be able to update ahead of time. No excuses, no exceptions. I'm not any other author. I'm me. And does anyone notice? No. I don't even get one WTF e-mail. Do you have such low expectations of me?

So anyway, here's the topic of this weeks bitching. College. What the hell do I need a fine arts elective for? Everyone says it's to make me well rounded. I plan on spending the next God knows how many years in the military. Why the fuck do I need to know the difference between Wagner and Bach? Everyone goes on and on about how important college is. Its no different from god damned high school. Has college taught me anything new? Yes, a few new facts. Has it opened my eyes to the way the world works and the ideas behind it? No. I don't need this shit to function, but apparently I need to blow all this money and waste my time for a piece of paper just so people can stare at it and think I'm better suited for a job than someone who doesn't have it. I'm in the Marines for fucks sake. I'd like to think that people would see that on a resume and take it over a college diploma, but no. Apparently some little twenty year old who thinks they know everything knows more than some jarhead who's been commanding marines all around the world. Alright, bitching done. I'm going to go take some Nyquil and 7-Up. See you all when I come down. If ever.


	7. Chapter 7

I don't own anything.

The Legionnaire

-Chapter Seven:

Shinji watched as the sun rose and puffed contentedly on his cigarette. Apparently, Alison was not a morning person. She had just staggered into the tent, completely missing him sitting beside the door. Shinji watched the horizon grow bright and felt the air warming. Soon it would be too hot, but for now, it was comfortable. The tent's door flap flew up and Alison reappeared with a panicked look. "Morning," Shinji offered, blowing a cloud of smoke in her direction.

"You. . .you. . .you. . ."

"Yes?" Shinji asked. Alison stared at him for a moment and her left eyebrow twitched rather violently. She took a deep breath and plucked the cigarette from his fingers. She threw it to the ground and crushed it under her heel before pushing him into the tent. She promptly dumped him into his cot and wheeled the wheelchair out of the tent. She appeared a few minutes later.

"You stay there."

"Okay," Shinji replied calmly. Her eyebrow twitched again and she stormed away.

"Isn't it a little early to be driving her insane?"

"Never too early," Shinji replied.

"What did you do to Alison already?" Mac asked as she walked past.

"Went for a stroll," Shinji replied nonchalantly. Mac just shook her head and made her way towards her cart at the far end of the tent.

"You seem cheerful," Martin commented, his eyes narrowing slightly, "oddly cheerful. Get laid Chief?"

"Nope," Shinji replied. "Just had a good night." Martin's eyebrow rose. "I already said I didn't get laid."

"If you say so Chief." Shinji leaned back in his cot. He was tempted to dig out a cigarette, but he knew that would just cause more problems. "Get to second base with that redhead?"

"No Dog."

"Third?"

"Dog."

"Shutting up."

"Good boy." Mac appeared again, dragging her cart with her.

"No really, what did you do to Alison to piss her off already?" she asked. "Normally she's too out of it to get pissed off in the morning."

"Went for a stroll," Shinji repeated. "She hid my wheelchair. Can you go get it?"

"If you wait till I'm done, I'll roll you around again," Mac stated.

"Sounds good." Mac nodded and pushed her cart towards her patients.

"She's too young for you, Chief," Martin stated.

"She doesn't seem to think so," Shinji shot back. "Women like an older man." Martin sighed dejectedly and began shuffling his cards.

"Ain't that the truth?" Shinji frowned as he considered the cards. Wasn't there an American stereotype about Indians and cards?

"You learn that in a casino or something?"

"How'd you know?" Martin asked.

"Chief senses," Shinji replied.

"Ah."

(:ii:)

"I gotta give you credit," Mac stated. "I had you chocked up as harmless. Most of the old guys. . ."

"Not that old," Shinji interrupted.

"Most of the old guys don't cause too much trouble. Now it looks like you were just waiting to strike."

"I didn't mean to piss her off," Shinji replied as he lit a new cigarette. The sun was fully up now and the heat was increasing dramatically. "Speaking of which, won't this get you in trouble?"

"Nah. I'll just tell her its part of the treatment Doctor Ayoob suggested," Mac stated.

"What if she asks him?" Shinji asked.

"He'll agree with whatever I say if he knows what's good for him," Mac replied brightly. Shinji decided it was best not to ask. They continued on in silence for a time and Shinji really took in his surroundings. The hospital was small, compared to many he had been in, and it was ringed with barbed wire with only one entry point he could see.

"That is just typical." Shinji turned to the new voice and tried vainly to climb to his feet before his brain caught up with him.

"Morning sir."

"Morning," Colonel Francis Dubois returned. "That really is typical, Chief. Here I am all worried, worried enough to drive across a continent, and I find you getting wheeled around by a pretty redhead half your age." Shinji glanced back at Mac.

"She's not half my age sir."

"I'm twenty-three," Mac stated.

"See?"

"Closer than you're comfortable with," Francis commented. Shinji decided not to grace that comment with an answer. He was getting to the point where his age was starting to annoy him. "Now introduce us Chief."

"That's Colonel Francis Dubois," Shinji stated. "He's the commanding office for my regiment. Sir, this is Mac."

"Just Mac?" Francis asked as he shook Mac's hand.

"Just Mac," Mac stated.

"Very well," Francis stated. "I see you're doing well, Chief. How's Dogsong?"

"In good spirits sir," Shinji reported. That was true enough.

"Good," Francis stated. "Let's go find him. I need to talk to him anyway."

"Lead the way Mac." Mac nodded and began pushing them towards the tent.

"So, you get pushed around by pretty redheads a lot?" she asked.

"Not for a few decades now," Shinji returned. "Of course, that was a different kind of pushing around."

"I could push you around a different way," Mac commented.

"Like I said, typical," Francis groused. Shinji just smirked.

(:ii:)

Martin frowned down at the cards laid out on his bed. He had never had a knack for solitaire. It just wasn't his game. "I give up."

"No surprise there." Martin scowled as he turned to face his heckler. When he saw the man, his eyes came close to bugging out of his skull.

"Sir!" Francis smirked as Mac helped Shinji back onto his cot.

"Stay to poker. I've heard that's more your strength."

"Yes sir!"

"The Colonel is here to offer you citizenship because of the French by spilled blood provision," Shinji stated. "You've been in what, two years?"

"Yes Chief."

"You could have claimed citizenship after another year, but this is kind of. . .well. . .romantic, I suppose. You want it?"

"Absolutely," Martin stated. Francis nodded and shot a glance at Shinji.

"Don't suppose you want it, do you Chief?" he asked. "This would be what? The twelfth time I've asked. Of course this would be the first time with a major injury." He chuckled as he recalled his constant offers. "I have to ask, you know? It's SOP even if I know you don't want. . ."

"Actually sir," Shinji interrupted. "I do want it." Francis's eyebrows shot up.

"You know you have to be serving under your real name," he stated.

"Ikari, sir," Shinji stated. "Shinji Ikari. Nice to meet you." Francis scratched his head and looked around.

"What the hell have they been doing to you here?" he asked. "This place doesn't look much like a brainwashing factory."

"We're much more subtle," Mac offered.

"I've just done a lot of thinking sir," Shinji stated.

"I'll start the paperwork when I get back to the fob," Francis replied.

"Sir?"

"What's up Chief?"

"Why did you drive here?" Shinji asked.

"Big offensive operation sucked up all the French aircraft," Francis stated. "I just spent a long time stuck in a VBL with a guy who drives like you do after you get into the liquor cabinet."

"I'm not that bad sir," Shinji replied defensively.

"You almost gave me a heart attack that time in Malta!" Francis exclaimed. Martin frowned at that and Shinji glanced over at him.

"Different time in Malta," he stated.

"What Chief?"

"It was a different time in Malta," Shinji stated. "It was a very long time ago when I was a legionnaire and the Colonel was a lieutenant."

"Oh."

"Wait till you go there," Francis stated. "Oh, such good times. Only, I can't have as much fun any more. Curse of being held to a higher standard."

"Now who is this?" Martin turned and saw Hikari and Fahad. Fahad's eyes bugged out slightly and he edged away.

"This is the C.O. of the Second Foreign Parachute Regiment," Shinji stated.

"So you two've been taking care of my men," Francis boomed as he shook their hands. "You have my thanks."

"No problem sir," Fahad stated cheerfully. "I have to go check on some of my other patients." Martin watched in amusement as Fahad took off at a quick pace.

"Was it my breath?" Francis asked.

"He was a Legionnaire," Shinji replied. "Certainly enlisted and probably didn't make it too high up the rank structure. I think you intimidated him sir."

"Oh," Francis stated. "Okay. Good thing you aren't like that Chief, right?" Shinji didn't answer and Martin turned to see that he was collapsed in his cot. "Chief!" Shinji jerked awake.

"Yes sir?"

"What the hell was that?" Francis asked.

"I had a long night sir."

"If he's tired, I'm going to have to ask you to leave him alone," Hikari stated.

"Fair enough," Francis replied. "Take a nap Chief." Shinji nodded and was out like a light. "I'll talk to you later Legionnaire."

"Yes sir."

(:ii:)

Francis looked around the camp and frowned as he noticed that his driver was passed out on the hood of his VBL. He turned back to the doctor who had taken it upon herself to make sure he hadn't caused any more trouble on the way out of the tent. "I really do have to thank you for piecing the Chief back together."

"It was Doctor Ayoob who did most of the surgery," Hikari replied. "I took care of Dogsong."

"Well, thanks for that," Francis stated. "I need all the good soldiers I can get at the moment. Chief is going to be a major loss."

"The lieutenant who was here a little while ago said pretty much the same thing," Hikari stated. "Have you known him for a long time?"

"Over twenty years," Francis stated. "I was his section leader back when I was a lieutenant and he was a legionnaire. I still remember his first combat action."

"How did that go?" Hikari asked.

"It earned him his first medal," Francis stated. "We came under fire and one of the other new kids froze up. Nothing against him, you just can't train them for everything. Shinji risked his life to grab the kid and get him behind cover. He was just one of those few that could function under pressure. It was almost like he had been in battle before, but he insisted that he hadn't. I still don't believe him. He must have been in the JGSSDF or something."

"I see," Hikari replied. Francis frowned as he considered that. No one had ever gotten the Chief to talk about his past. Usually everyone opened up after a while, but Shinji never had.

"I'm really screwed now." He pulled out a cigarette and lit it. "I'm loosing my best combat NCO, marksmanship instructor, and unarmed combat instructor in one fell swoop." He took a deep drag. "Shit. I don't have anyone with near his experience. Even the regimental major hasn't seen as much combat as the Chief." He glanced back at Hikari. "This must sound really selfish. He's lost a limb and I'm thinking about my problems."

"A little," Hikari replied.

"He's not going to have it easy either I suppose," Francis stated. "His only other real talent was fighting. Did you know he's an international Savate champion?"

"No," Hikari answered.

"Of course not," Francis grumbled. "He wouldn't volunteer that kind of information unless you asked him. Too modest, that one."

"I suppose," Hikari replied.

"Do you know how long he'll be out?"

"It's hard to say," Hikari replied truthfully. "He isn't reacting to his injuries or the subsequent surgeries like I expected. Most people here, especially soldiers, sleep a great deal more. Yamamoto only sleeps at night."

"He doesn't like to sleep," Francis replied offhandedly. "He has nightmares." He saw Hikari turn to stare at him out of the corner of his eye. "The Chief and I have been serving together for two decades. I may not know his past, but I know his present."

"Do you know what he has nightmares about?" Hikari asked.

"He only ever says that they're about a girl," Francis stated. "It's kind of an inside joke."

"That's not a joke." Francis felt his eyebrow rise slightly. "I knew him a long time ago."

"I see." Francis finished his cigarette and lit another.

"Don't you want to know?" Hikari asked. Francis took a long draw on his cigarette.

"It's not that I don't want to know," he stated after a moment. "It's just that I don't care. No matter what you tell me, he's still my Chief."

"But what if he did something horrible?"

"He saved my life," Francis countered. "He's saved the lives of my men. I don't care what he did."

"The lieutenant said that too," Hikari stated.

"Lieutenant Swan is a smart kid," Francis replied. "Now if you could point me to your communications station, I'd be most grateful."

"It's over there," Hikari stated, pointing to a small shack next to a massive radio tower.

"Thanks."

(:ii:)

Shinji jerked awake and looked around the tent wildly. "Bad dreams?"

"Yes sir," Shinji replied. "What time is it?"

"Twenty hundred," Francis stated. "You've been out for a while. I had a nice talk with that brunette doctor."

"Horaki?"

"What are the odds?" Francis asked. "The world's a fairly big place."

"Apparently the odds aren't zero sir," Shinji replied as he propped himself up on his good elbow.

"Given any thought to what you're going to do when you get out of here?" Francis asked as he shuffled his seat around slightly. The tent was only barely illuminated by a single strand of bare bulbs hanging over the aisle between the two rows of cots.

"I don't know sir," Shinji replied. "I'm kind of scared. I'll be a French citizen, but I really don't know anything about the culture."

"I guess the military really isn't part of the culture, is it?" Francis mused. "Did you ever have plans for when you got out?"

"Die," Shinji replied bleakly. Francis nodded his understanding.

"I have a small house in Calvi," he commented. "It belonged to my parents, but they've been dead for years. I think I might live there when I retire. You are; of course, welcome to stay there until you find somewhere else." Shinji chuckled.

"Thank you sir."

"It' not a problem," Francis replied. "I owe you more than I could ever hope to repay. Speaking of which, there is someone I want you to meet tomorrow."

"Who?"

"It's a secret," Francis stated cheerfully. "You'll like her though."

"Her?" Shinji asked, one eyebrow rising.

"I didn't bring you a hooker," Francis stated flatly. "Now understand this, you cannot refuse this offer. I order you to not refuse, understand?"

"Yes sir," Shinji replied. "So, you had a nice long chat with Horaki, eh? Tell you anything interesting?"

"She might have, if I was interested," Francis answered. "If anything, I think you should talk to her."

"Why?"

"Closure," Francis stated simply. "Over the years, you may have been able to convince everyone, even yourself, that the past doesn't matter, but it will catch up with you. You don't have the Legion to keep you occupied now. Sooner or later, everything will find you again."

"I see." Shinji frowned as he considered this. "Maybe. . ." he trailed off. "Maybe you're right."

"You can only hide in a uniform for so long," Francis stated. "I tried. Now all I have to show for it is two dead parents and a wish that I had talked to them when I had the chance." Shinji scratched the burgeoning beard that had grown across his jaw.

"I'll talk to her."

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. Alright, a few of you reviewers brought up some things that I noticed as I went over last week's chapter. These chapters are too short and they're relying too heavily on the dialogue. Thanks for being constructive.

I think the reason for these problems is that this is a new kind of story for me and I'm not very good at it. Normally my stories have action, new locales, and of course my unique form of humor. This story has no where near the action and the only locales are inside the tent and outside the tent. I know other authors could make a great story of this premise, but not me. Drama just isn't my bag. Now don't go worrying about me quitting this story or anything. Quitting just ain't my bag either.

I'm trying to beef up the details, but this chapter was already started even before the last one was added. I tried to add detail, but I didn't have time to rewrite this chapter. The next chapter will be my first real attempt at getting back to myself.

So, thanks for point out my flaws. No seriously. And thanks for telling me how to fix them.

Also, a little more French Foreign Legion factoid time. There is a French but Spill Blood provision. It is granted to Legionnaires who are injured while serving. Of course, as mentioned before, you can't get citizenship using a declared (fake) name. Oh, and a major is the equivalent to a sergeant major.


	8. Chapter 8

I don't own anything.

The Legionnaire

-Chapter Eight

Shinji watched as the sun rose and took another drag on his cigarette. Beside him, Francis mopped at his forehead with a towel he had scavenged from somewhere. "I hate this place. A man should not have to get up before the sun just to exercise without getting heatstroke."

"You just have to keep drinking water sir," Shinji replied as Allison staggered into the tent. She burst back out a minute later and Shinji waved at her absently. She stared at him for a moment and went back inside the tent.

"I drink enough water," Francis grumbled. "I still can't exercise with the sup up." Shinji shrugged and offered the slightly older man a cigarette. Francis stared at it for a moment and shook his head. "I'm quitting. I'm getting old. I need to start taking care of myself."

"You are, by association, saying that I'm old," Shinji commented.

"Well," Francis began.

"Don't say it," Shinji growled.

"You may keep your hair short, but when the light hits it right, you can see that it's gray," Francis stated.

"At least I don't shave my head to hide my balding," Shinji grumbled.

"Don't sass your superiors," Francis growled. Shinji finished his cigarette and considered the smoldering butt and the pack of cigarettes in his lap for a moment. Finally, he just dropped the butt and ground out the coal.

"Morning," Mac sang as she walked past them and into the tent.

"You should settle down with a nice girl," Francis said suddenly. Shinji eyed the man out of the corner of his eye. He scratched his chin thoughtfully.

"I don't want a nice girl," he said finally. "I'd prefer a mean girl who would argue with me a lot."

"You know, marriage isn't the military."

"The military is my first marriage," Shinji replied.

"Good morning you two." Shinji turned and saw an older woman with short, graying hair. "Out for a run Francis?"

"Gotta keep up with the brats," Francis stated. He turned to Shinji. "This is Doctor Deliverance Louise. She's an old friend that I called soon after I heard what happen to you. Del, this is Chief Sergeant Yamamoto."

"Nice to meet you," Shinji stated as he shook the doctor's hand. "Is she my surprise?"

"Yes," Francis replied. "Del is an expert of prosthetics. She's here to make you a new leg at no charge. What do you say?" Shinji stared at the woman. "Remember, you can't say no."

"Alright."

"Good," Del stated. She glanced at his leg. "You're in luck. A below the knee prosthetic is pretty easy to whip up. Above the knees are a lot more complicated. I'll have to take molds and it should be done within a week. For now I brought along a much older piece you can borrow."

"An older piece?" Shinji repeated. Francis grinned.

"No Peg-Legged Chief jokes from me," he stated. "I can't make the same promise for Dogsong though."

"I think I might prefer to wait."

(:ii:)

Hikari paused outside the tent and considered what she was hearing. It was laughter. Not just the normal laughter of a couple of soldiers telling rude jokes, no, this sounded like every person in the tent was in hysterics. "Stop laughing you little fuckers!" Hikari pushed the flap open and felt an eyebrow rise.

"Shinji?" Shinji turned and Hikari frowned. She hadn't realized how tall he was. She looked him up and down and noticed a single wooden peg in place of his missing leg.

"Afternoon Doc," he stated. He turned back to the injured soldiers and stumbled slightly. Mac grabbed his good arm to steady him and another wave of laughter surged through the soldiers. "I can move now you little assholes! Keep laughing. Go on." Hikari watched as he stalked up the aisle between the rows of cots as best he could. She glanced around and spotted Shinji's commanding officer sitting near the entrance and laughing with the rest of them.

"Where did he get that?" Hikari asked.

"It's a gift," Francis stated. "My way of thanking him for all he's done." Hikari glanced up and watched as Shinji stopped to yell at a bedridden young man, much to the amusement of everyone else.

"What is he doing?"

"What he does best," Francis stated. "He's inspiring the troops."

"By yelling at them?" Hikari asked.

"They're enlisted men and he's a senior NCO," Francis stated with a shrug. "It's a dynamic that no one else understands. Hell, I don't get it either, but they look like they're having a good time." Hikari turned and saw that Shinji had moved on to another soldier.

"I guess. It just seems really weird."

"I'm not saying it isn't, because it is," Francis stated. "I guess when they spend all they're time on the battlefield, yelling is just what happens."

"I thought you were a soldier too."

"I still am," Francis growled. "Anyway, officers who weren't prior enlisted just kind of come from a different background. This isn't the kind of dynamic you can understand unless you've been there."

"Wait till I get my new leg and can run. You little bastards are going to be screwed!" Shinji made his way, with some help from Mac, to the entrance to the flap and out into the sun. Hikari frowned and followed after him.

"Shinji?" He turned and stared at her.

"What's wrong Doc?" he asked. "If you're going to bitch about us smoking. . ."

"Do you have a lighter?" Hikari interrupted as she fished a pack of cigarettes out of her pocket. Shinji and Mac stared at her in shock. "Medical school is really stressful."

"Very sneaky Doctor," Mac commented as she lit her cigarette and Shinji's. She held out her lighter and Hikari quickly lit one of her cigarettes.

"Thanks."

"The more accomplices the better," the younger woman replied with a shrug. She glanced up and swore. Hikari turned and saw a VTOL in the distance. "I'm on duty." She tossed down her cigarette and stomped it out before sprinting towards the ready tent.

"What about you?" Shinji asked.

"I'm off duty today," Hikari replied. "We get two days on and four off as the main surgeon here. On Sundays we just take different shifts."

"Ah." Shinji blew a cloud of smoke at the spotless blue sky.

"You seem to get along pretty well with Mac."

"I get along well with most people," Shinji stated.

"I think she has a crush on you," Hikari stated.

"As much as it pains me to admit it, she's too young for me," Shinji stated. "Besides, happy young women like that deserve happy young men." He glanced at her. "Speaking of relationships, I couldn't help but notice that you still have your maiden name," he commented. "Is that pride or lack of a chance to change it?" Hikari stiffened slightly.

"I'm not married," she stated.

"Thought you and Touji were going to get married." Hikari frowned as she considered his words. This was the first time he had brought up the past.

"It was just a stupid school girl dream," she stated finally. "No one meets the person they'll marry in kindergarten."

"I suppose." Hikari took a drag on her cigarette. She wasn't used to smoking during the day. Normally she smoked at night to avoid putting up with the nurses. The silence dragged on as the VTOL touched down and a team of nurses grabbed the litter inside and rushed it to the operating tent. "The real cost of war." Hikari glanced at him, but he didn't say anything else. Shinji finished his cigarette. "Find out who that is for me. Please."

"Alright."

"Thanks."

(:ii:)

"So you two are leaving on this VTOL, sir?" Shinji asked.

"Yeah," Francis stated. "I'd stay longer, but this is my only chance to fly. I really don't want to get stuck with that kid again. His driving really is as atrocious as yours."

"I'm not that bad," Shinji argued.

"You can't even get a military drivers license," Francis stated.

"I haven't applied."

"Yes you have," Francis shot back. "I run shit at the unit. I know that you've been applying every six months for years."

"I had a bad teacher," Shinji finally stated. "You're going to miss your flight."

"They ain't going to leave my ass here," Francis stated. "I'll be in touch. Don't cause any trouble here."

"No promises." Shinji shook the man's hand and watched him walk out. He suddenly felt rather alone.

"Shinji?" He turned and saw Hikari standing by Martin's cot. "That new guy is an Italian peacekeeper. He died on the operating table." Shinji ran his good hand through his hair. Just another dead kid.

"How's the brat doing?" Hikari scanned over the clipboard that had been hanging on the end of Martin's cot.

"He's getting better," Hikari stated. "I give him four more weeks in the cast and than however long it takes him in physical rehabilitation." Shinji stared at the sleeping kid. "After that he'll do whatever he wants. He's a citizen of France now, isn't he?"

"He'll stay in the military," Shinji stated. Hikari frowned and stared at the clipboard in her hands. Shinji could see the question in her mind. "He's like me."

"What?"

"He's like me," Shinji repeated. "He doesn't have anything else. His parents were killed two years ago. The family business was left to him and he took off."

"How do you know that?" Hikari asked.

"I'm the old man of the unit," Shinji replied. "I know all their stories. They all need to get them off their chests eventually."

"All except you," Hikari replied.

"I had a dangerous story," Shinji replied. He saw Hikari's eyebrow rise at that. "I'm going to go have another smoke."

"I'm going to destroy your wheelchair," Allison growled. Shinji smirked at the woman and stood up.

"I'm going to go have a smoke." He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and disappeared outside.

"Who gave him that?" Hikari had to laugh at the nurse's expression. She finished charting the progress on Martin's board and replaced it. "I'm going to drag his sorry ass back. . ."

"I'll get him," Hikari interrupted. "Don't worry about him." She straightened up and followed the man out of the tent. The sun was just starting to set and the temperature was dropping quickly. She quickly spotted the glowing coal of Shinji's cigarette. "Can I see your lighter?"

"Sure thing Doc." Hikari nodded her appreciation and lit her cigarette.

"You can call me Hikari, you know?"

"Alright," Shinji replied. He sat down slowly and stretched his legs out in front of him. "I've been gone from my unit for two weeks."

"I don't want to be the one to say this, but you're never going back to them," Hikari stated.

"I know," Shinji replied. He glanced at her and blew a cloud of smoke in her direction. "For twenty-two years I've been with them. For twenty two years I've never been without them for more than a week. Hell, even on leave I was with those guys. Maybe I'm just getting lonely."

"Twenty-two years," Hikari repeated as she sat down next to him and drew her knees to her chest. "It really has been that long, hasn't it?"

"Yeah," Shinji agreed. "How the hell did you wind up here?"

"I wanted to help people," Hikari stated.

"You aren't military," Shinji stated.

"I already had this conversation with Martin," Hikari stated. "No, I'm not military. I honestly just want to help people."

"Why a doctor than?" Shinji asked.

"My mother was a doctor before she died," Hikari explained. "After she passed away I had to take care of my little sisters, so I was the one fixing scratched elbows and banged heads."

"Must have been nice," Shinji commented. Hikari frowned as she thought about that.

"Yeah. It was." She reached into her pocket and dug out an old family picture she always kept with her. It was a few years old now, from their family reunion. Both her sisters were married now and Nozomi even had a little girl. She held it up and Shinji glanced at it.

"They look like you," he commented.

"They're my sisters." Hikari stared at the picture for a moment longer before sliding it back into her lab coat. "I thought soldiers were supposed to be off the battlefield after twenty-two years." Shinji took a deep drag on his cigarette.

"I'm a special case," he stated finally. "Colonel Dubois turned down my promotions to keep me in the field. He gives me to his new officers to make sure they don't get anyone killed."

"How do you know that?" Hikari asked.

"He asked my permission," Shinji stated. "Like I said, we've served together for a long time. He wouldn't screw me over like that without asking."

"Why would you want to keep getting shot at?" Hikari demanded. "That's crazy."

"It's my chance to save some kids," Shinji stated. "I loathe admitting it, but I'm old. I have nothing to live for except the Legion. If I can save the next generation of Legionnaires, my life's worth it."

"What will you do now?"

"Drink more and quietly go to pieces?"

"Some plan."

"I haven't given it much thought yet," Shinji replied. "I'll think of some more to do later." They sat in silent again. The sun had gone down completely and it was cold enough to make Hikari shiver.

"You said you had a dangerous past," she stated finally. She heard Shinji chuckle.

"Finally got around to that, huh?"

"So it's not dangerous anymore?" Hikari pressed.

"No, but it's still fairly disturbing," Shinji replied. "Ah hell, you already called me crazy once tonight. Interested?"

"Maybe." Shinji stared at her blankly for a moment. His face split into a broad grin and he laughed wildly at that.

"Maybe I won't tell you."

"I'm interested," Hikari replied quickly.

"Very well. Try not to interrupt too much, although I know it will be tempting." He trailed off for a moment to light another cigarette and stared at the night sky.

"Well?" Hikari pressed.

"I've been avoiding thinking about this for more than two decades," Shinji stated. "Give me a minute to remember it."

"You mean get your story strait."

"That too," Shinji replied. He was silent for nearly a minute. "I think I got it all now, but I'm not sure where to start."

"Try the beginning," Hikari offered.

"Beginning isn't very nice," Shinji stated. "Middle isn't any better, worse I'd say and don't get me started on the ending." He took a deep drag on his new cigarette. "Ah hell, the beginning it is."

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. There. That was my attempt to have less dialogue. Did I succeed? Hell no. There's as much jaw jacking in this one as before. Well, maybe a little less. I'm just going to have to keep whittling away at it. I was going to make this longer too, but come on. Y'all know I'm a cliff hanger junkie, or you should by now. God I'm an ass and for some reason the majority of you love me for it. You people are special, but I love you guys. Happy Late Halloween!

And now for this week's bitch session. This week's topic is rape in fanfiction. In my humble opinion, there is way too fucking much. Rape can make for real heart-wrenching drama, but most of these kids writing this shit just don't have the skills to pull that off. Just writing a story about how someone gets raped does not make it drama. As a matter of fact, I see it as insulting to people who had gone through that. It also makes me sick how many people decided that rape is a great idea for a story. Am I the only one bothered by this?


	9. Chapter 9

I don't own anything.

The Legionnaire

-Chapter Nine

Shinji stared at the star-filled sky and lit a new cigarette. "The beginning, eh?"

"It's normally the best place to start," Hikari offered sagely.

"Alright," Shinji replied. He glanced at the doctor next to him. "Before we start, I have to say one thing. No matter what this story may lead you to believe, I loved Rei. She's one of the two people in my life that I ever really loved."

"Who was the other?" Hikari asked. "Asuka?"

"That was respect and annoyance," Shinji replied. "Not love. You wouldn't know the other person."

"Was she in a different class?" Hikari pressed.

"No," Shinji replied. "He was an Evangelion pilot who moved in when the city was mostly evacuated." At the word 'he' Hikari had begun hacking roughly, her cigarette falling from her fingers. Shinji patted her on the back till her coughing subsided.

"He?" she gasped.

"His name was Kaworu Nagisa," Shinji stated. He gave her a sideways glance. "Do you think any less of me now?"

"No, you just caught me by surprise," Hikari replied. "So, you're. . ."

"Not really," Shinji interrupted. "It was just him."

"Ah." Shinji offered Hikari one of his cigarettes, but she politely refused. She grabbed one of her own and lit it.

"I'll leave that part of the story out," Shinji stated. "I guess I should start when you all came back. That was when you guys found out about me and Rei, right?"

"The entire school was talking about it," Hikari stated. "All the girls thought it was so romantic. There were all kinds of rumors going around about how you nursed her back to health after her Eva exploded." Shinji nodded. How was he ever going to explain what came next? It was so bizarre that he could barely believe any of it himself.

"Rei was a clone."

"What?" Maybe that had been a little blunt. For a moment Shinji was worried that he had broken Hikari's mind. If that hadn't done it, what he said next would.

"Rei was a clone," he repeated. "There was a tank full of clones and they all used one soul, although every time the soul moved to a new body, something was lost."

"She died in that explosion?" Hikari guessed. Shinji was amazed at how easily she assimilated this data. "And when she came back she was still Rei, but she wasn't, right?"

"Yeah. Pretty much," Shinji replied. "Things just kind of happened. None of you could see it, but she was so kind and loving."

"Who was she a clone of?" Shinji winced. He had been hoping to avoid that. Telling a lie would be for the best, but what the hell?

"My mother." Hikari nearly inhaled her cigarette. "You think less of me now, don't you?"

"Your mother?" she cried. "She was a clone of your mother?"

"She told me after we had been together for a while," Shinji replied. He couldn't help but chuckle at her expression. Her mouth kept opening and closing, though no sound came out. She looked like a fish.

"So, she was your sister?" Hikari asked finally.

"You could say that," Shinji replied. "I didn't care really. Why would I? I had found someone who loved me." Hikari continued to stare at him in shock. "Do you want me to stop?"

"Did anyone know?"

"Just my father and some of the high ranking people at NERV," Shinji replied. Hikari finally managed to stop staring at him. "They didn't know we were together, at least, we thought they didn't know. It wasn't really public knowledge until everyone came home and we all started school again. That was when it all went south." Shinji frowned as his stomach twisted. How could this still be so damned painful?

"Are you okay?"

"I've been putting off thinking about this for years," Shinji stated. "It hurts like you wouldn't believe to think about her." Something wet ran down his cheek and he glanced away to wipe at his eyes. Was he actually crying?

"I don't understand how you could just not think about someone," Hikari commented.

"It's easy," Shinji replied. "You just have to keep yourself busy. You have a lot more on your mind when someone's shooting at you." They were quiet for a long while after that. A hand rested hesitantly on Shinji's arm.

"We can talk about this later, okay?"

"Yeah." Shinji reached up with his good hand and squeezed hers. It felt odd to have someone comforting him. He couldn't remember if anyone had ever actually done that for him. It was. . .nice. "Thanks."

(:ii:)

"Tell her to go away Chief!" Shinji stared at the couple in front of him and was tempted to walk back out of the tent.

"Would you tell him to sit down and hold still?" Allison demanded. "I need to change his I.V."

"Absolutely not!" Martin shrilled. Shinji staggered to his cot and lay down. "She couldn't stick that thing in right if I had a bull's eye on my ass!"

"I have a knife and a migraine," Shinji stated flatly. "Who wants to keep talking?" They both fell utterly silent. That lasted for all of about two minutes.

"Do you really think he has a knife?" Allison whispered.

"Oh yeah," Martin replied. "He's the Chief. He probably has a stack of grenade too."

"This is no time to joke," Allison growled.

"Who's joking?" Martin asked.

(:ii:)

"You sneaky little minx." Hikari gagged and immediately began hacking. Fahad patted her on the back till her coughs subsided. "If I hadn't already known, I'd be shocked."

"You knew?" Hikari rasped.

"I notice things well," Fahad stated. "And I couldn't help but notice you and our resident Chief Sergeant chatting outside."

"I told you," Hikari stated, "I want to know the truth."

"It didn't look like you were just after information there," Fahad commented. He chuckled at the dark glare he was being shot. "I'm kidding. So, is he evil?"

"I don't know," Hikari replied. "It's confusing. He isn't a bad guy."

"You sound pretty sure of that," Fahad commented. "Turning a one-eighty, aren't you?"

"Maybe I just never thought about it from any other point of view," Hikari replied rather sharply. "I had no reason to doubt Asuka."

"Fair enough," Fahad replied, raising his hands in surrender. "Sorry. Find out anything interesting about him?" Hikari hesitated.

"That's one way of saying it," Hikari replied.

"Do tell."

"It's not really something I should talk about," Hikari replied.

"Ah come on," Fahad whined. "I said I was sorry. You can't leave me hanging like this. That's cruel."

"Ask him about it," Hikari replied. Fahad frowned and lit his cigarette. "How's Doctor Frazier doing?"

"Still twitchy," Fahad answered. "He's fresh out of med school. He's not used to having to deal with a parade of teenagers who have been torn apart in any number of horrible and gruesome ways."

"He'll get over it," Hikari stated. "The contractors are coming back tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah." Fahad took a long draw on his cigarette. "Let's hope the trouble doesn't start up again. Permanent buildings would give us so many more options to take care of our patients. I swear to God, if someone fires another mortar, I'm going up the radio tower with my rifle."

"You have a rifle?" Hikari asked.

"I have a few," Fahad answered. "And I have a couple of pistols too."

"Why would you have them?" Hikari demanded. "Are you even allowed to have them?"

"I've found that no one can say no if you don't ask," Fahad stated. Hikari rubbed her temples and finished her cigarette. She wasn't sure she liked the way that the other doctor was staring thoughtfully at the radio tower. He wouldn't actually do that, would he?

"Why am I not surprised?"

"Because you don't expect any better from me?" Fahad guessed.

"Yeah, that's probably it." Hikari glanced back at the tent. "Now would be the time I guess. We have fifty-eight soldiers in right now."

"Considering sending out a commando force of busted up grunts to hunt down the local baddies?" Fahad asked. "I thought you were anti-war." Hikari considered his words and lit a new cigarette.

"It's the few to save the many," she decided finally. "If the bad locals suddenly went away and we could help the good locals, however it happened wouldn't matter, right?" Fahad considered her carefully and Hikari wondered if he could tell how disgusted she was by her own words. "That's what you'd say, isn't it?"

"Of course," Fahad answered. "But I'm me and what I believe shouldn't have an affect on how you think."

"I thought you'd be happy that I'm considering how you think," Hikari commented.

"I've never really cared what anyone else thought," Fahad stated. "I'm considered a mercenary for serving in the Legion, a traitor to my family for studying in India, and a fool for working for almost no money out here instead of in an industrialized nation where I could make a lot of money. If I cared, I'd have shot myself by now." Hikari frowned as she considered his position. She had never really thought about it before.

"I didn't know you were Pakistani."

"I'm pretty sure the country disowned me when I set foot in India," Fahad stated. 'I'm a French citizen now." He stubbed out his cigarette. "Get some sleep. We might be heading for some excitement tomorrow."

"Yeah."

(:ii:)

"This is kind of peaceful, Chief."

"Hmm." Shinji watched as the sun started to rise. Martin spat a stream of tobacco juice on the hard ground. "Where'd you get a can of Copenhagen?"

"Some Jarhead who wasn't as good at poker as he thought," Martin stated happily. Allison staggered past them and into the tent. "I think that's the first time she's passed me by without a smart comment."

"Give it a moment," Shinji replied. The tent flap burst open.

"Oh, you're hanging out with him now?" Allison asked. "I didn't think you ever woke up before noon." She walked back inside.

"That bitch," Martin growled. Shinji cuffed him lightly, nearly sending him flying off his crutches. "Sorry Chief."

"Hmm."

"Morning you two," Mac commented brightly.

"Who are those guys?" Shinji asked. Mac turned and stared at the assembling men and equipment.

"Contractors," she stated. "They come out here and try to building a hospital every couple of months. A couple of local assholes lob a few mortars at the sight during the night and the contractors take off for a few months again."

"I see," Shinji replied.

"How close are they building that mortar magnet to us?"

"Not too close," Mac stated. "Don't worry. The locals don't seem to want to actually hurt anyone. That would just bring down hell on them."

"That's good," Martin stated. "I've already been blown up once and I must say, the experience didn't agree with me."

"Yeah," Shinji replied.

"Hey Shinji."

"Hikari," Shinji returned as the brunette doctor walked into the tent. He frowned as he noted Mac and Martin staring at him. "What?"

"I don't think anyone here calls Doctor Horaki by her first name other than Fahad," Mac commented.

"That's the Chief," Martin stated. He spat out another stream of tobacco juice.

"That's disgusting," Mac commented.

"I've been told," Martin shot back.

"Hasn't stopped him yet," Shinji added. "Doc."

"Chief," Fahad returned. "Mind if I have a word?"

"Nope," Shinji replied. He grabbed his cane, a gnarled piece of wood that he was sure was older than him, from where it had been leaning against the tent. He hobbled along beside the younger man as he was led towards a set of tents he had never been in. "What this about?"

"It's about the construction crews," Fahad stated. "They tend to attract the wrong kind of attention."

"So I've been told," Shinji replied. They walked into a small tent and Shinji looked around. It was obviously Fahad's private quarters. "You want to do something about it?"

"Yeah." Fahad unlocked an old footlocker and pulled a scoped, bolt-action rifle out. "How did you get a F2?"

"This is Africa," Fahad stated. "I could get a Garand from World War II if I wanted." He pulled out a second rifle. "This one's actually from that war."

"Mauser 8mm," Shinji commented as he took one of the world's finest rifles in his good hand. "This is in good condition."

"I couldn't pass it up," Fahad replied as he took the weapon back and placed it in the locker.

"So, what's the deal?" Shinji asked. "You can't legally take the shot. So, I'm here to take the blame?"

"No," Fahad stated quickly. "I actually just wanted you to guard my back while I take the shot." He reached into the locker and pulled out an ancient black pistol. Shinji considered it quietly.

"You'd be ruining your career if you were caught shooting at the locals," he stated.

"We need those buildings," Fahad stated. "If we get permanent buildings we can get better equipment and we'll be that much more able to help people. I'm not letting these extremist assholes get in the way anymore. We had an Italian kid come through a few days ago. He's dead and there is equipment out there that could have saved his life. I won't let that happen anymore." Shinji took the semi-auto .45 and checked it, his movements made somewhat awkward by the cast on his right arm. It was old and hard used, he could tell by the way that the grip panels were worn smooth, but these old American pistols could go forever.

"You aren't taking the blame for this," Shinji stated. "You want to help the people and you need to be here for that."

"I can't ask you to take the blame for this," Fahad stated. "If we get caught, this will cause major trouble between the Red Cross and the UN. It won't be pretty."

"God knows I've caused bigger problems for smaller problems," Shinji replied.

"If we're caught, what are you going to say?" Fahad asked. "How could you explain getting a rifle and making your way up the communications tower with one arm in a cast and a peg leg?"

"I'm the Chief," Shinji replied. If he had tried, he probably would have been able to get himself a rifle. "Besides, it's not like I have anything else to do. If this is how I can help my guys, I'll do it." Fahad stared at him for a minute than laughed.

"That's right. You are the Chief. I've been gone so long that I forgot there really are guys like you."

"Thanks, I think." Shinji tucked the pistol into the rather flimsy waistband of his hospital trousers. "When are we going to do this?"

"Last time the contractors showed up, it was that night," Fahad stated. "I was out smoking when it happened. It sounded like an old Russian 82mm. It was close, they aren't good enough to go long distance."

"Close enough for you to hit?" Shinji asked.

"It was within one thousand meters," Fahad stated.

"You can go out to one thousand?" Shinji asked incredulously. Max range for an F2 rifle was only eight hundred meters. "From a radio tower?" He had only seen shots like that, but only from a perfect prone position.

"Well it's been a few years, but one thousand shouldn't be too hard," Fahad stated with a grin. "I can do about twenty-five hundred with the .50-caliber on a man sized target."

"Why did you get out?" Shinji asked. Fahad stared down at his rifle thoughtfully.

"At times like this, I can't remember why." He placed the rifle back in the locker. "Meet me at the communications tower after dark."

"Alright," Shinji replied. He glanced around. "What are the odds of a reprisal?"

"Little to none," Fahad replied. "I'm hoping once they figure out that they aren't getting away with this shit anymore, they'll stop trying."

"What are the odds of that?" Shinji asked sarcastically. He knew these kinds of people. Not personally of course, he had never fought in this country before, but fanatics were the same the world over.

"Slim to none."

"I figured."

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. Alright. I know it was a tease. Sorry. I'm just not too good at this drama shit. It's my first time trying to write this stuff. I'm working on it, okay? Drama ain't easy for me folks. Ask my last girlfriend. I'm a typical guy. The only emotions I show consistently are a tired disgust at all things around me and a vaguely amused annoyance.

Onto other things. Happy Birthday! If you don't know what I'm talking about, don't worry. If you do, Happy Birthday. Here's to a whole lot more.

As for this week's bitch session, I'm in a rare good mood. Likely alcohol induced, but still. So instead of bitching, you get a recount of the Birthday Ball last weekend. Now, I'm not sure if there are rules or what, but I've never seen a commissioned officer dance. This year was no different, but our C.O. is a CWO. So he was out there with a beer in one hand and his wife in the other. Seeing the old guys, i.e. Company First Sergeant and Company Gunnery Sergeant is always a funny time.

Plus we drank the country club out of Captain Morgan. Now I'm never drunk, but I was certainly a moving and a grooving with a dozen Captain and Cokes (no Jack Daniels), a couple Bay breezes (kind of girly, but good), and a half dozen Yueinglings (because they didn't have Budweiser and yes, I know that's not how you spell it). Cut me some slack folks, I'm a white boy. I need all the help I can to make it work on the dance floor. And don't get me started on the image of a shit load of Marines and their dates doing the Electric Slide with yours truly front and center.


	10. Chapter 10

I don't own anything.

The Legionnaire

-Chapter Ten:

Shinji watched as the sun sank lower and lower on the horizon. As it finally disappeared he climbed to his feet and glanced around. "Going somewhere Chief?"

"Take a walk," Shinji replied. He set his hand down. "I think we're done here."

"I was just about to win!" Martin protested. Shinji kneeled awkwardly and flipped his cards over.

"No you weren't."

"God damn it!" Martin snatched up his cards and reshuffled them. "I used to make my living playing cards, you know?" Shinji shrugged and shuffled towards the barbed wire perimeter.

"Hey Shinji!" He turned and saw a mass of red hair jogging towards him.

"Hey Mac."

"Taking a stroll?" Mac asked.

"Just a little one," Shinji replied as he took a cigarette. Mac pulled out her lighter and lit it for him. "Thanks."

"No problem," Mac stated. "Need some company?"

"I have a little something to take care of," Shinji replied. "I'll see you after that."

"Alright. I needed to finish with my new patient anyway." Shinji watched her walk away and made his way towards the radio tower. The faint band of light colored sky across the horizon had disappeared and it was getting very dark very quick.

"Evening Chief," Fahad greeted as he adjusted the strap of the bad slung over his shoulder. "Imagine seeing you here."

"Yeah," Shinji replied dryly.

"You know, I never meant for you to take the fall if we get caught," Fahad commented.

"I'm still taking the blame," Shinji replied. "Get up there." Fahad nodded and began climbed up the ladder. Shinji glanced around to make sure no one was around and sat down with his back against the ladder. It had been a long time since he had pulled rear security for a sniper. Out of habit, Shinji checked the .45 hidden in his waist band. He felt suddenly alive.

"Chief?" Shinji pivoted, his hand resting on the smooth grip of his pistol.

"Hey Dog," Shinji replied, releasing the pistol. "What are you doing?"

"I needed to get away from Allison," Martin stated. "She's sweet, but damn is she a bitch."

"Right," Shinji replied. "I'm doing something illegal, move along."

"You're pulling something without me?" Martin asked, looking rather hurt. "Come on Chief, we're the only guys from the regiment. You can't scamper off and have shenanigans without me."

"I don't scamper," Shinji replied. "And what the hell is a shenanigan?" He could already tell that he wasn't going to get rid of Martin. He reached into his hospital-issued shoes and pulled out the knife Alec had given him. "Here. If you see someone who wants to kill you, stick them with this."

"I'm not sure Allison would be pleased if I stabbed her when she comes looking for me," Martin commented as he took the knife and leaned back against the tower beside Shinji.

"Ah." Shinji lit a new cigarette.

"What are we waiting for?"

"Big boom."

"Oh." Martin looked around nervously. "Is there a bunker somewhere here we can run to?"

"Run if you like, I just got comfortable here."

"Right."

(:ii:)

Fahad scowled. The thin metal strut he was sitting on was digging into his ass and putting both his legs to sleep. He had forgotten how much being a sniper sucked. Down below he could hear Shinji talking to someone. If it was a problem, Shinji would have already taken care of it. A quick glance at his watch told him that he had only been sitting up here for an hour. It had seemed like four. It was about that time that he heard the unmistakable thump of a distant mortar. "You hear that?"

"I heard that," Fahad gritted as he twisted himself to face the direction of the shot and raised his binoculars. That shot had sounded like it had come further than four hundred meters. There wasn't really anything that could be used for cover beyond the perimeter until about eleven hundred. Fahad caught a flash of movement and grinned. He let the binoculars dangle from his neck and raised his F2. He stared at the small crowd gathered around the mortar tube through the rifle's primitive night vision scope. "Too easy." He fired the rifle almost as fast as he could pull the trigger, work the bolt, and slap a new magazine in. His last shot felt a bit off as the concussion from the mortar round impacting threw him slightly.

"Do you just suck or were there really thirteen of the little bastards?" a semi-annoyed voice demanded from below.

"I'm the best I've ever seen, Chief," Fahad replied as he placed his rifle back in the bag and slung it over his shoulder. "And I've seen a lot of men, from a lot of branches, from a lot of countries." Fahad managed to get a hold of the ladder and was about to swing himself onto it when he caught sight of a fire roaring merrily. It was the mortar and it had definitely not hit the construction sight. "Oh God no."

(:ii:)

Hikari staggered out of her tent and looked around wildly. "What's happening?"

"The rec tent got hit by a mortar!" one of the nurses called as she ran past.

"Oh my God." Hikari sprinted to the tent and stared in shocked horror as bodies were being loaded on to litters. Someone was yelling orders, but Hikari couldn't understand. She was staring at the shock of red hair poking out from under one of the litters draped in a sheet. Shinji was sitting beside it, clenching the pale hand that poked out from under the sheet. Suddenly a pair of strong hands grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her roughly. She found herself staring into Fahad's face. He looked different, his normal expression of everlasting annoyance was gone, in its place was one of shocking intensity.

"Doctor Horaki!" His loud demanding voice seemed to make the strange cloud that had filled her head disappear.

"What?"

"We need you to scrub up," Fahad stated, his voice quieter, but not less demanding. "We have injuries we need treated. Get clean and go to surgery tent two. Okay?"

"Surgery tent two," Hikari repeated. "I've got it."

"Good." Fahad nodded and turned her in the direction of the clean up tent, the only tent to have actual running water. Behind her she could hear him cursing. "This is not good."

(:ii:)

Shinji staggered to his feet and cast one last glance down at the covered litter. He picked up Fahad's rifle bag and began staggering towards the recovery tent. He pushed the flap open and glanced around. Not a single patient was asleep. They were all sitting silently on the ground, prepared to hit the deck if they heard another mortar go off. "What's going on Chief?" someone asked.

"Can everyone understand me?"

"Some of my men don't speak French," one of the Italians reported. He was a young sergeant and the highest ranking of the Italian troops.

"Translate for me."

"Of course Chief."

"What just happened, as you might have guessed, was a mortar attack," Shinji stated. "The hospital staff somewhat expected it."

"Bloody nice of them to mention it to us," someone grumbled.

"Every time these contractors come out to work on permanent buildings, somebody lobs a couple of mortars at them," Shinji continued. "Before tonight, they only attacked the construction sight."

"What about tonight?" the Italian sergeant asked.

"Tonight they hit the rec tent," Shinji stated. "Three nurses are dead, two probably soon will be, and a few more are hurt."

"Are there going to be more mortars?" someone asked.

"No," Shinji stated. "All of the attackers were dead by the time the first mortar hit. No one knows what happened to them."

"Special Forces?" someone ventured.

"No one knows what happened to them," Shinji repeated slowly. "Do we all comprehend the words coming out of my mouth?"

"Yes Chief," a ragged chorus sounded off in semi-decent French.

"Good." Shinji staggered to his cot and collapsed onto it. Martin was still out there trying to make himself useful. Fahad had told Shinji specifically not to send out any soldiers, they might just hurt themselves trying to help. Shinji reached for his cigarettes and tugged Mac's old Zippo out of his pocket. She had given it to him right before she had. . .right before she had. . .Shinji's hands were shaking so bad he could barely light his cigarette.

"Chief?" Shinji spun sharply, his cigarette falling away as he snatched the .45. "Whoa! It's me!"

"Dog?"

"Yeah," Martin stated. Shinji stuck the weapon back into his waistband and snatched up his cigarette before he could burn himself. "You okay Chief?"

"No. I am very not fucking okay," Shinji stated.

(:ii:)

Shinji scowled as the sun coming up on the horizon. "I didn't sleep last night."

"Neither," Shinji stated. Martin turned and spat a mouthful of tobacco juice on the ground.

"Morning you two." Shinji glanced up and saw Allison walking towards them. Martin immediately hobbled forward.

"How are you doing?"

"Pretty good," Allison stated with a weak smile as she patted her slung arm. "Doctor Ayoob gave me some real good stuff, so I'm fine. I really can't complain. I mean, after what happened to. . ." she trailed off and Shinji looked away as Martin wrapped his arms around her.

"There's nothing you could have done," he stated soothingly. "Its not you fault."

"I know," Allison sniffed, "but I was sitting right next to her."

"These things happen," Martin stated. Shinji could hear Allison's muffled sobs as she buried her face in Martin's chest. He just focused on finishing his cigarette until her sobs tapered off.

"Uh, thanks."

"No problem." Shinji glanced back up as Allison disappeared into the tent and Martin sat down heavily. Shinji watched him out of the corner of his eye for a moment before he slugged the younger Legionnaire in the shoulder. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Nothing," Shinji stated simply. He heard foot steps rounding the tent and looked over to see Hikari. She looked about as good as Allison. Shinji climbed to his feet and hobbled to meet her. He had seen shell shock before. She definitely looked it. "Hikari."

"Hi Shinji." She had a slight tick in her left eye.

"Did you sleep at all last night?"

"I was operating all night," Hikari stated.

"Maybe you should go to sleep," Shinji suggested. "Bad things happen when you're tired."

"The nurses were a tight group," Hikari replied. "You think I'm bad? You should see them." Shinji nodded his understanding. He frowned as he heard someone shouting.

"What the hell?" He turned and hobbled towards the main gate with Hikari in tow. They found a man and a woman carrying a younger man and making animated gestures at the guard to go along with their panicked exclamations. "What are they saying?"

"Their son is hurt," Hikari stated. "Get me a stretcher over here!" Shinji watched as a pair of nurses hustled a litter out and carted the kid away. "Doctor Fahad's on call. I'll talk to you later Shinji."

"Yeah."

(:ii:)

"What is it now?" Fahad asked as the nurses sped into his OR tent.

"It's a local, Doc," one of the nurses stated as he helped Fahad get his gloves on. He turned to the local on his table and stared at the exposed wound. It was a tiny, perfect hole in the right side of his chest, just below the collar bone. Fahad stared at it and than at the kid. He was young, probably late teens.

"How did they say this happened?" Fahad asked as calmly as he could. In his mind he was reliving that last shot. His first twelve were perfect. All center mass, even as the hospital's attackers had scattered. That last shot though, that had been different. Where had his cross hairs been right before the blast from the mortar hammered him?

"His parents say they don't know," the nurse stated.

"Role him," Fahad ordered. The two nurses rolled the man and Fahad stared at the similar sized wound in his back. "Fuck."

"What is it Doc?"

"Get Doctor Horaki in here," Fahad ordered. He stripped off his gloves and threw them in the trash.

"What's wrong Doc?"

"If I work on this kid, he ain't walking out of here," Fahad stated bluntly. A heavy-weight boat-tailed full metal jacket round could chew through a body without much deformation. The back wound was much lower than the front. He had either been shot from a high angle in front or a low angle in back. Fahad was willing to bet a year's pay that it was the first.

"Doctor Horaki!" The tent's flap swept aside and Hikari walked in.

"What's wrong?"

"You work on the kid," Fahad stated as he pulled off his smock. "Don't ask. You might just have the same problems I am now if you do." With that said, he walked out of the tent as quickly as he could.

"Kind of suspicious." Fahad froze and turned to see Shinji standing near the tent's door.

"What?"

"A sniper takes a few shots at a bunch of kids shooting mortars off and the next morning a kid shows up with a bullet wound and his parents have no idea how it happened," Shinji summarized. "Kind of suspicious."

"Kind of," Fahad agreed. He grabbed a cigarette with shaking fingers and watched as Shinji pulled out a familiar brushed steel Zippo. He lit his cigarette and took a deep drag while staring at the lighter. "I'm going to go in there and cut him open in ways that they won't be able to sew him back together."

"Hold it Doc," Shinji cut in smoothly. "Remember why I was at the base of the radio tower last night? You need to stick around here. I'll make sure everyone gets their just rewards." Fahad stared at the dour-faced man for a long minute.

"You just want to pull the trigger."

"You're God damned right I do."

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. Dramatic enough? I like this one. Makes me think that maybe I can write this drama stuff. Maybe.

Alright, now for this week's bitch session. That's right, no happily drunk Mister C. for ya'll this week. This week's topic is comedy. Do you know what comedy is? If you're like most Americans, apparently, you have no fucking clue. I'm sitting here watching late night television and thinking about how I don't want to see a single comedy movie in theatres. It used to be that all I had to worry about was directors trying to add drama to comedy, which is a bad fucking idea. I see comedies to laugh. I don't want to be moved by a comedy. I want to be in hysterics. The best movies for pure comedy has always been parodies, but these parodies right now, they suck.

Now the problem I have to worry about with comedies is that I just won't get the humor. It's the same god damned deal with Aqua Team Hunger Force. It isn't funny, it's stupid. It is easy to make that mistake, especially when high. My brother loves ATHF. He also loves pot. All his friends are the same ways. My friends, who prefer gratuitous alcohol consumption to pot, can't stand ATHF. Is their a correlation? I think so.

You know what? Fuck it. In my room I have a dozen Mel Brooks, Zucker Brothers, Monty Python, and Leslie Neilson movies. I do believe that I will just never bother seeing another comedy ever. Someone actually suggested I go to a Vince Vaughn flick. Yeah, he doesn't know me very well.

And in addition, have you ever heard of a website called Dark Lord Potter? Oh my fucking God. (That's right, my God. I switched to deism, got sick of all the morality speeches when people found out I was atheist.) That place is largely made up of everything and everyone I hate. I didn't know I could take that shit in such quantities without going into convulsions. I was only there because I read a HP story called Only Enemies. Read it! Read it now! You'll thank me.


	11. Chapter 11

I don't own anything.

The Legionnaire

-Chapter Eleven:

"What a piece of shit."

"You think you can do better?" Fahad shot back as Shinji stared at his latest project.

"I know I can do better," the old Legionnaire replied. "I'd show you if we had more time." Fahad sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He should have seen that answer coming. Shinji stared down at the homemade suppressor and set about duct taping it to the .45's frame.

"Don't forget, this will only give you a few shots," Fahad stated. "At most, you can put a clip through it before its junk."

"It's already junk," Shinji stated. "And I'll only need three shots."

"What if you miss?" Fahad asked.

"The Chief doesn't miss," Martin stated, "unlike some people." Fahad's eyebrow twitched and his jaw dropped, but stilled as he watched the younger man test the tip of the short stiletto he was carrying.

"What's with the knife?"

"I've got the best mobility," Martin stated. "If your pistol jams, I'll take care of the survivors." Obviously pleased with his weapon of choice, he slipped it back into his cast.

"Best mobility, eh?" Fahad asked, eyeing the lump of plaster.

"You wanna go Doc?"

"Maybe later." Martin grinned brightly. "When are you going to do this?"

"There's a blind spot when you leave that recovery tent you put the kid in," Shinji stated. "I'll take the shot from there where the gate guard can't see me."

"Alright," Fahad replied. He turned to the horizon and watched as the sky continued to lighten. "Have you ever felt bad?"

"About killing someone?" Shinji asked as he tested the heft of his .45.

"Yeah."

"Nah, but please, don't use me as a standard for all people."

"Right." Fahad climbed to his feet and yawned. It was supposed to be his day off. What the hell was he doing up before the sun? "Good morning Allison."

"Uh," Allison moaned as she staggered past. Fahad felt his eyebrow creep upwards and he shot a glance at Shinji and Martin.

"Not a morning person," Shinji stated.

"She'll be back," Martin added. The tent flap burst open and nearly flipped itself up onto the tent.

"Doctor!"

"Morning," Fahad repeated. Allison stared at him for a minute.

"You actually beat me to the tent?" she asked. "Hell must have frozen over." She disappeared back inside the tent and Fahad scowled.

"I get no respect."

"Bosses shouldn't bother people before the sun is up," Shinji replied. "Well, not unless they don't care about being liked."

"I seem to remember you waking us up for early morning PT," Martin commented.

"Being respected is much better than being liked," Shinji replied. "The Lieutenant can be your friend, I'm going to be your worst enemy."

"You were," Martin replied, "except for that guy who blew us up. And the guys who shot at us before that. They were pretty bad too."

"Yeah," Shinji agreed. "Those assholes."

(:ii:)

Shinji took a deep drag on him cigarette and checked his pistol again. He didn't like leaving things to chance. "They're just being released now, Chief."

"Right." Fahad nodded and disappeared back into a nearby tent. Shinji slipped the pistol back under his shirt. Killing had never bothered him. The first time he had done it had felt strangely right. It had hurt him more to see that strange blank look in those familiar red eyes. The second time had just felt good.

Oddly, it was the few he had injured rather than killed that had nearly destroyed him. He was fairly sure no one knew how close he had come to killing himself after what happened to the Suzuharas. Hell, Misato didn't know and she had walked in on him with her pistol against his temple.

"Shinji?" He turned towards the source of the voice.

"Hikari," he stated. "I don't want to talk right now. How about later?"

"Maybe you could listen to me, than," Hikari suggested.

"Don't want to do that either right now," Shinji replied. "How about later?"

"Is something wrong?" Shinji glanced at the woman and fought down a sigh of annoyance. It just could never be easy, could it?

"You don't want to be around me right now," he stated. "Go check your patients and I'll talk to you at chow. How does that sound?" The family appeared and Shinji tensed. He only had a small margin of error before they disappear out of view. He knew the gate guard, was on good terms with the man, but he didn't trust him to lie for him.

"You and Fahad think they had something to do with the attack, right?" Hikari asked. Shinji shot a glance at her out of the corner of his eye as his hand twitched to his pistol. The family was almost out of view.

"God damn it." Shinji pulled out his pistol and fired. At ten yards, even using only his off hand, his aim was dead on. All three of them collapsed and Shinji shoved his weapon back under his shirt. He turned back to Hikari. Her jaw had dropped and she stared at him in shock.

"I told you, I don't want to talk right now," Shinji rasped. He kneeled awkwardly and picked up the three spent casings. "You should listen when people talk." He hobbled the other way and passed the pistol off to Fahad.

"Any problems?"

"Oh, yeah."

"They're dead, right?" Fahad asked.

"Of course they are," Shinji stated. "Hikari saw me."

"You always manage to do the worst possible things in front of that woman," Fahad commented. "What do you want to do?"

"I just don't care right now," Shinji replied. "I'm really tired."

"There will be an investigation," Fahad stated. "You killed a woman and a child."

"What about Mac?" Shinji demanded. "What about the rest of the nurses?"

"The locals don't care, so why should the UN?" Fahad asked. "They came here for help. The locals'll have a shit fit now that they're all dead and the UN will act."

"I hate the UN," Shinji stated flatly. "And I still don't care right now."

"You might end up in jail," Fahad shot back. Shinji laughed.

"I killed a woman and a child," he stated. "I won't go to jail. I don't think I'll even make it to the courthouse."

"You want to keep the pistol? I only have one spare clip."

"No. Get rid of the pistol as planned. I've still got my knife."

"What could you possible do with just a knife?" Fahad demanded.

"Take care of everything," Shinji replied simply as he turned and began hobbling away.

"Suicide doesn't seem your style," Fahad commented.

"Suicide by cop does," Shinji shot back. "How long do you think we've got?"

"Bad news travels fast. Go get some sleep."

"Thanks."

(:ii:)

Fahad peeked around the tent and spotted his traumatized co-worker. "Hikari?" She turned and stared at him. "You okay?"

"He just. . ."

"I know," Fahad interrupted. He patted the pistol hidden under his scrub blouse. "You know why we did it."

"You think. . ."

"We know," Fahad corrected. "We know that kid was involved with the attack. Trust us on this and trust me in particular. I recognize my own handy work."

"You shot that kid?" Hikari asked.

"Him and a lot of his buddies," Fahad replied truthfully. "None of them have showed up yet, so I guess I'm still a pretty decent shot. There was a time when none of them would have ended up here." Hikari was silent for a long time.

"They still came here of their own free will," she stated. "How could we kill people that come to us for help?"

"You didn't," Fahad corrected. "Shinji and I have full responsibility for this one. He's not a doctor and I just don't have the morals to care."

"He was just a kid. Why did he attack us?"

"Thought it was cool," Fahad replied with a shrug. "Maybe his friends were anti-UN and egged him on. Maybe he heard his parents cursing the hospital."

"The sins of our fathers."

"Yeah," Fahad agreed.

"Why did Shinji kill all of them?"

"No survivors means no one to come back for revenge," Fahad stated. "Truth be told, it's easier on everyone. Death only really hurts those who are left behind. Nobody cares for the orphans anymore." He patted the younger doctor on the shoulder and walked back around the tent to see about disposing of the murder weapon.

(:One Week Later:)

"How does it look?" Fahad carefully rotated Shinji's pale, weak arm.

"About as good as can be expected," he stated. "Flex your wrist." Shinji flexed his wrist and scowled.

"It's stiff," he stated. "When can I start working out again?"

"You aren't going to want to work out after you start physical therapy," Fahad stated. "How's that new leg working out?"

"Not bad," Shinji replied. "I nearly broke my arm trying to run on it."

"You know, people tend to go through a lot of physical therapy before they can run on prosthetics," Fahad stated. "This isn't like regeneration. It's not your real leg. It works just a little bit differently. Too bad that's still too expensive to be part of the military benefits package."

"Yeah," Shinji agreed. He glanced over Fahad's shoulder and Fahad tensed.

"Mister Yamamoto and Doctor Ayoob?" Fahad turned and stared at the collection of similarly dressed men. "Could you please come with us?"

"Sure," Shinji replied, tossing the blanket away. He wasn't wearing his prosthetic, so the effect was much greater. "Who wants to give me a hand? I just got my arm out of a cast and it's still too weak to use crutches." The men stared at him. "What?"

"Who are you?" Fahad asked.

"We're from the UN," the lead man stated. "We're here in reference to last weeks shooting."

"Ah," Fahad replied as happily as he could. "So, you're here about investigating who dropped a mortar onto my rec tent and killed a few of my nurses, eh? Excellent! Although, many of us are rather angry that it took you until someone was actually killed before you acted." The UN man didn't even have the good grace to look embarrassed.

"We are here about the family that was gunned down."

"Of course you are," Fahad returned. "When did you guys get here?"

"Several hours ago," the man stated. "We've been questioning the hospital's personnel." Fahad bristled sharply, all sarcasm forgotten.

"I am in charge of this hospital," he growled as he shot to his feet and loomed over the man. "You have been questioning my people without my permission?" The man backpedaled quickly. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave my hospital."

"You don't have the authority." Fahad hid a smirk as several of the larger nurses and orderlies began to drift over. Very few things in the world beat having a bunch of really big, tough guys show up to watch your back.

"I have a right to remove distractions," Fahad stated. "You will be leaving and I will be lodging a complaint with your superiors. My nurses will help you out. Alexander?" The massive Norwegian orderly nodded.

"This way if you please," he stated in his almost comically deep voice. Fahad watched as the whole team was hustled out of the tent.

"Would that be stalling or halting the investigation?" Shinji asked. Fahad glanced back at him.

"Stalling," he stated. "But dear god, I am going to cause a shit storm for that little asshole. Nobody pesters my people without my permission!"

"Is the implication that you would give permission intentional or coincidental?" Shinji asked. Fahad shot him a glare. "When will they be back?"

"Pretty soon," Fahad stated, "them or a different team. Probably by tomorrow."

"Did one of those guys have a black eye?" Fahad glanced back at Shinji.

"I didn't notice." Martin chose that moment to walk in. Fahad quickly noticed that he was nursing his left hand. "Something happened?"

"Some dick was being rude to Allison," Martin stated as he sat on his cot. "How's your hand Chief?"

"It'll be a while before I'm punching UN investigators, but its fine."

"He was an investigator?" Martin squeaked. "I'm in trouble now, right?"

"Nah."

"Oh, good. That's a relief."

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. Working on Black Friday sucks. Working on Black Friday while two out of three registers is down blows. Working on Black Friday while two out of three registers is down in a store the size of a tractor trailer is hell. Doing all that after getting off of work at the Marine Corps station is stupid.


	12. Chapter 12

I don't own anything.

The Legionnaire

-Chapter Twelve:

Shinji stared at the young woman in front of him. Fahad had been right. Another investigation team had shown up the very next day and they had brought this girl along. "Who the hell are you again?"

"I'm a profiler," the woman stated. "My name is Lisa."

"Why are you talking to me?" Shinji demanded. "I'm a spec ops paratrooper. The Legion knows more about my psyche then I do. They have my profile already typed up and ready to be hidden, so they can't say they saw it coming."

"I've read it," Lisa stated. "I just wanted to talk to you." Shinji scowled at her and puffed at his cigarette.

"Are you profiling everyone or just me?" Shinji asked. Did they suspect him already? How could they?

"I'm not profiling you," Lisa stated. 'Bull shit.' Shinji puffed on his cigarette instead of voicing his opinion. He considered his option and smirked. She looked young. He doubted that she had ever been near someone like him, or at least tried to get inside their head.

"So," Shinji began as he turned to face her, "what would you like to talk about?" He met her eyes and held them fast. To her credit, her expression didn't chance. Her color, however, changed radically from a healthy color to a ghostly pale as the seconds ticked away. Finally her expression changed. She suddenly looked like a rat cornered by a cat.

"Chief?" Shinji turned, almost laughing as he heard her gasp.

"What's up Doc?"

"The physical therapist told me to find you," Fahad stated. Shinji nodded and rose to his feet. He caught Lisa staring at the foot of his fake leg as he straightened up. Apparently, she hadn't read his medical record.

"Sorry we can't keep this up," Shinji stated. "I have to see my physical therapist. I just got my cast taken off my arm." He turned and followed after Fahad.

"Is there a reason I can hear her sobbing from here?" the younger man asked.

"She wanted to understand my psyche," Shinji stated. "Poor little girl, fresh out of med school. Too bad no one ever told her that the world is full of my kind of people."

"Probably why mankind will never stop fighting wars," Fahad commented. Shinji shot him a sharp look.

"War may be all I've ever really been good at, but I still hate it," he snapped. Fahad considered that.

"Very well. Watch out for her."

"Why?"

"The investigators are targeting you," Fahad stated. "You are the leader of the soldiers here. They think if you weren't involved, you definitely know who was. And if they couldn't get you to spill about who the shooter was, they'll crucify you."

"They can try," Shinji replied. Fahad glanced at him out of the corner of his eye.

"I thought you didn't care," he stated.

"I wouldn't care if they were better than me," Shinji stated with a savage grin. "I always knew I'd run into someone better and that'd be it for me, but that isn't them. They are nowhere near my level."

"I don't know if you're arrogant or just overly confident."

"Neither," Shinji replied. "I'm the Chief."

(:ii:)

Shinji was pale and sweating by the time the therapist was finished with him. "I hate you."

"You want your arm to work like it used to or what?" the older man demanded. Shinji just scowled at the man. Hate didn't have to be logical. He had learned this over many, many years.

"Mister Yamamoto?" Shinji turned his glare on the new man.

"What the fuck do you want?" The new guy certainly seemed taken back by the language being directed at him.

"Don't mind him," the therapist commented as he scribbled something down. "They're all grouchy after a few hours with me." The therapist glared at the man as well. "You are here to investigate the death of our nurses, correct?" Both Shinji and the therapist knew this wasn't the case.

"I'd like to speak with Mister Yamamoto alone."

"I guess that works for you, eh Chief?" the therapist asked. "No witnesses, right?"

"Like you'd say anything if I did something to him," Shinji shot back. The therapist just grinned and walked out of the tent so that Shinji could turn his full attention on the investigator. "So, you're from the UN, right?"

"That's right," the man said cheerfully as he sat down. His act didn't fool Shinji. The man had the same cold, dead eyes as a politician.

"You know, a very dear friend of mine was killed the night of the mortar attack," Shinji commented.

"I'm not here to investigate that," the man stated. "Another team will come shortly. I'm here about what happened to that family." Shinji had been told that there was always another team coming after an attack, but they always seemed to never arrive.

"What do you want with me?" Shinji asked.

"I want to know what happened to that family," the man stated.

"They were shot," Shinji replied. "Any other questions?"

"By who?" the man asked. Shinji smirked at him.

"What would I know?" he asked casually. "I'm just a patient here. I don't know anything."

"You are the ranking military man in a camp full of military men," the investigator stated. "Where were you during the shootings?"

"I was out for a stroll," Shinji replied. "Ever since I got some mobility, I've been doing that. It gives me a chance to smoke and think."

"Were you with anyone?"

"No," Shinji answered. "Ever since my friend died, I've been taking my strolls alone." He rose to his feet and glanced down at the man. "Come talk to me when you catch the little fuckers who killed Mac." In the back of his mind, as he walked away, Shinji helpfully pointed out that that was impossible.

(:ii:)

"Doctor Horaki?" Hikari glanced up from her computer and stared at the young woman who had stuck her head into Hikari's tent.

"Can I help you?" Hikari was sure she had never seen the woman before. Was she a new nurse?

"I'm Lisa," the woman stated. "I'm one of the investigators from the UN." Hikari's hands balled into tight fists. "Whoa! Easy. I just wanted to talk to you about someone."

"How about the staff that were lost in the mortar attack?" Hikari demanded. "I don't believe I invited you into my quarters," she added as Lisa stepped into the tent. The woman hesitated for a moment and finally stood at the tent flap.

"I don't know anything about that," Lisa explained. "I just want to talk to you about Shinji Yamamoto." Hikari froze. She had seen him kill a whole family. He had done it and it hadn't bothered him in the least. She had thought that she had him figured out. "He scares me. He is a monster who shouldn't be allowed to roam free. I need your help to get him locked up."

"He's not a monster," Hikari replied quietly. "He's what the world has forced him to become."

"Whether he is simply an innocent warped by this world or not, he is dangerous," Lisa stated. "I could see it in his eyes. He's a murderer."

"But, so are all soldiers than, right?"

"He's different," Lisa argued. "His eyes are blank. He's a sociopath. He can kill and simply not care!" Hikari frowned at the truth in the woman's words. Shinji was a monster. It wasn't his fault, but that was what he was. He was a stone cold, methodical killer. He had killed two innocents just to avoid having to kill them later. 'Or was it to spare them the pain?' Hikari wondered.

"I trust him," she stated after a moment. "He may be able to kill without remorse, but he's a good man."

"He's not a man at all," Lisa snapped. Hikari stared at her. She could almost see the fear pouring off the woman. Shinji had done something to her. "Nobody should have those eyes."

"This is the real world," Hikari stated. "Shinji is far from the last person you'll ever run into like that. Be glad that he is really a good man." With that Hikari stood and ushered the woman out. It was funny. Just hearing Lisa say Hikari's own thoughts aloud had made her decision easy. Shinji wasn't a monster. He was just a man, a good one at that. A man who was worth saving.

(:ii:)

"I'm going to kick them out of here," Shinji gritted as he watched the investigators interrogate his men. These men had earned their peace and he would personally hurt anyone who tried to take it away.

"Settle down," Fahad replied. "You'll break your fancy, and quite expensive, new foot." The doctor finished studying the prosthetic and climbed to his feet. "Alright everyone. If you aren't a soldier or a nurse, get the hell out, right now."

"But. . ."

"Right the fuck now!" Fahad snapped. He was sick of playing nice and taking their backtalk. He was in charge of this camp and he wasn't going to let them think anything to the contrary. "Do I have to count you down?"

"We will need to interview all your men eventually," one of the men commented.

"The interrogations are over for now," Fahad hissed. "These are your men, not the enemy. Treat them that way." The man eyed Fahad carefully and walked out of the tent.

"You still got those guns?" Shinji asked.

"We can't kill them all," Fahad pointed out.

"We don't have to," Shinji countered. "I've got two hands and two feet. I'll be fine and we got plenty of space to hide the bodies." Fahad frowned as he considered that. It was tempting.

"Why do I get the feeling that you're both entirely serious?" Fahad turned and grinned at Allison.

"Have we ever given you reason to doubt us?" Shinji asked. Allison looked around.

"We could make it look like an accident," she suggested. "I'm that good. They'd never figure out how I did it." With that she turned and walked out. Fahad turned back to Shinji.

"You are having a very serious effect on my staff."

"Good or bad?" Shinji wondered.

"That remains to be seen." Shinji had to laugh at that. "This place used to be so quiet and calm."

"I didn't change that," Shinji replied. Fahad nodded and turned to head for the door. It was getting late. He stepped outside and pulled out his cigarettes.

"Evening Fahad."

"Hikari," Fahad replied as he lit his cigarette. "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to say something to Shinji."

"Oh, alright."

(:ii:)

Shinji stepped out of the tent and frowned as he came face to face with Hikari. "Evening, Doc."

"Evening," Hikari returned. "Taking a stroll?"

"Yeah." Shinji leaned his cane against his leg and lit his cigarette. An eyebrow rose as Hikari pulled out her own pack of cigarettes. "The nurses won't leave you alone if they see you with that."

"I don't care," Hikari replied. Shinji shrugged and lit her cigarette before they both set off for the perimeter. "Hey Shinji?"

"Yeah?"

"I trust you." Shinji frowned and glanced at the brown haired woman out of the corner of his eye.

"Thanks, I guess."

"No," Hikari stated, "I really trust you Shinji." Shinji had heard this kind of statement before and knew what usually proceeded it.

"Don't you do something stupid, Hikari," he ordered. "Whatever you're thinking, don't do it. I'm not worth it."

"I think you are," Hikari stated.

"You think wrong," Shinji replied.

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. Sorry about last week y'all. When I tried to log on I couldn't. Then the week started and I didn't have any time at all. At least y'all took notice this time. Sorry about that. You guys know how much I hate no updating for you.


	13. Chapter 13

I don't own anything.

The Legionnaire

-Chapter Thirteen:

Shinji considered the rising sun and lit another cigarette. "Morning, Chief."

"Allison," Shinji returned with a nod. The young nurse had really been loosening up. She grabbed his cigarette and crushed it under heel. Shinji scowled. Apparently, she wasn't loose enough yet. "What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing," Shinji replied absently as he patted his pockets to make sure that he still had his pack of cigarettes. God help the girl if she destroyed his last cigarette so cavalierly.

"What are you going to do about the investigators?" That was what Shinji had been thinking about.

"I'm not sure yet," Shinji replied. The locals wanted blood for what had happened. The investigators were dedicated to giving them what they wanted in order to maintain the peace. Maybe, just maybe, his life was worth keeping the peace.

"Don't."

"What?" Shinji asked, glancing at the young woman.

"You're thinking about giving up," Allison stated. "I've seen that look before. What you did wasn't wrong, Chief. Don't you dare give up."

"What do you mean, 'what I did'?" Shinji asked.

"Nothing," Allison stated. "Just don't give up on whatever it is you're thinking about." With that she disappeared into the tent, leaving Shinji to consider her words. Was she just assuming that he was involved in the shooting? That was certainly what the investigators were beginning to believe. He could tell that they were looking at him more and more as a perpetrator instead of an accomplice. Shinji wouldn't put it past them to crucify him if they couldn't find real proof.

"I must be loosing my touch if little girls can see right through me." Shinji stretched and lit a new cigarette. "Dying quietly ain't my style. I guess I'll just have to come up with something."

"Hey Chief."

"Hey Doc," Shinji replied. "How much explosive material can you get before sun down?" Fahad froze in mid-step.

"Aren't we trying to fly under the radar?" he asked.

"Won't have to worry about the radar if it gets blown up," Shinji pointed out. Fahad sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Go take a walk, Chief. You obviously need a little fresh air." Shinji laughed as the man disappeared into the tent. He suddenly felt the entire burden slip from his shoulders as he made up his mind. If they caught him, he'd make sure they worked for it. If they didn't catch him, he'd live the rest of his life in Calvi and keep his head down. Of course, that didn't mean he couldn't have a little fun now. Shinji lit another cigarette and took a long drawl. Hell, maybe he could even live long enough to die form lung cancer. That thought caught Shinji's attention and he stared at the cigarette. He had never thought about that before.

"I smell smoke!" Allison bellowed from inside. Shinji frowned and took another drag. With a sigh he climbed to his feet and shuffled off, looking for a new place to smoke. One very, very far from that particular nurse.

(:ii:)

"Give it up Mister Yamamoto. We know that you're involved with the shooting." Shinji stared at the kid who was glaring at him.

"You know or you can prove?" The took the kid by surprise. Shinji had been working in a world of strict facts and proof for a long time. Without either, you might as well not even try.

"We will find the proof we need," the man stated.

"Or you'll create it, right?" Shinji asked. That caught the whole group by surprise. Did they think they'd intimidate him by coming at him as a group? Shinji could have taken them all on even without his new leg. "Come on kids, you can't do shit to me and you know it. Go home and leave everybody in peace or I'll leave you in pieces."

"Where were you when the victims were killed?"

"Which victims?" Shinji asked. "There're a lot of victims around here. Some seem more deserving of help in your eyes then others."

"We told you, Mister Yamamoto, another team is on its way to investigate. . ."

"Fuck you." Shinji extinguished his cigarette and climbed to his feet.

"Now see here, Mister Yamamoto!" One of them reached out and grabbed his shoulder. Shinji broke all of his fingers with a cheerful grin. The man hit the ground hard and screamed as he clutched his disfigured hand.

"Anybody else?" Shinji smiled at their shocked expressions. That was probably the most violent thing any of them had ever seen. Shinji knew their kind, idealistic kids too far gone to see anything else. In other words: fanatics. Shinji had been fighting fanatics for such a very long time now. He blew a cloud of smoke at the one who seemed to be in the lead and started for the tent.

"You'll pay for this Yamamoto." Shinji hesitated slightly. That probably hadn't been the smartest thing he could have done.

"Oh well. At least I feel better now."

(:ii:)

"Doctor Horaki?" Hikari sighed and turned to see that Lisa had found her hiding spot. Dodging UN investigators was not how Hikari had wanted to spend her free days, but that's how they were now spent.

"Unless you broke something, I don't really care."

"Actually, it's Mister Yamamoto who's doing the breaking." That caught Hikari's attention.

"What did you do?"

"We were just trying to question him!" Lisa exclaimed.

"Yeah right," Hikari shot back.

"Why do you trust him so much?" Lisa demanded.

"Because I know I can!" Hikari snapped. "Same as how I know I can't trust any of you people!"

"Then you believe he didn't kill them?" Lisa asked. "Prove it! Where was he when the shooting took place?"

"He was with me!" Hikari shrieked. Lisa's angry expression dropped almost immediately, to be replaced with one of shock.

"He told us he was alone." Hikari's thoughts leapt wildly as she tried to think of something to say.

"He would say that to protect my career." Lisa's face went blank and than her eyes widened.

"You do know that kind of relationship is not allowed between a patient and a doctor serving in the UN," she stated.

"That's why he said he was alone," Hikari replied.

"I guess I know why you trust him so much," Lisa commented.

"I guess you do."

(:ii:)

"Chief!" Shinji nearly leapt out of his cot in surprise. He spun and stared at Fahad.

"What the hell is going on?"

"We have trouble," Fahad stated flatly. "Follow me." Shinji climbed to his feet and grabbed his cane before following the man out of the tent.

"Slow down a little. I'm still not so great on this thing." Fahad ignored him and shoved his way into his personal tent. "What's wrong?"

"Hikari just screwed herself over," Fahad stated. "She said that she was with you at the time of the shootings."

"So?" Shinji asked.

"_With_ you!" Fahad shouted. Shinji stared blankly at him before catching on.

"Oh."

"The investigators just filed a formal complaint with the UN about doctor patient fraternization here," Fahad stated. "If it was just my level, I could ignore it, but they went way over my head."

"What's going to happen?" Shinji asked.

"They wouldn't dare accuse a doctor of being involved in the shooting," Fahad stated. "You're off the hook and I heard that the investigators were being called back for unbecoming conduct."

"Unbecoming conduct?" Shinji parroted.

"Somebody's looking out for you," Fahad stated. "You know somebody in the UN?"

"The Legion doesn't make politicians," Shinji replied. "Can't we use that somehow?"

"I tried," Fahad stated. "It didn't work. The UN would fire Hikari for this." Shinji stared at the man. "Luckily, because of her years of service, they're going to let her quit first, so no mark on her record."

"Fuck." Shinji ran a hand through his hair. He had told her! He had told her not to do anything stupid! "Where is she?"

"Probably in her tent."

"Where is that?"

"Next one over," Fahad stated.

"How sound proof are these tents?" Shinji asked. Fahad's eyes nearly bugged out of his skull. "No! I'm just going to yell at her a little."

"Oh. They're pretty well insulated."

"Thanks." Shinji turned and pushed his way out into the sun. He was going to have words with that doctor, very strong words.

(:ii:)

"Well, I can't say I'm surprised."

"Shut up Allison," Hikari grumbled as she continued jamming her clothes into her luggage. It was a good thing she hadn't brought much. Her tent's flap opened and she looked up to see Shinji.

"Out now."

"Okay," Allison replied as she slipped past him.

"Evening Shinji," Hikari stated as she zipped up her luggage.

"I told you not to do something stupid," he stated, his voice sharp.

"It kind of slipped out while I was being questioned," Hikari stated. She shoved her bag under her cot and sat on it. "At least they won't be bothering you now."

"That doesn't matter," Shinji stated. "It's just like a told you, you have a purpose. I'm nothing!"

"Shinji. . ."

"War is all I'm good at!" Shinji snapped. "Now I'm a broken weapon. You're a doctor. You were doing good things out here. I'm not worth you loosing that or this loosing you."

"You're not a broken weapon," Hikari replied as she patted the cot next to her. Shinji considered her for a moment before sitting down. "I told that investigator the truth, you're a good man Shinji."

"That doesn't matter," Shinji stated. "I may be a good man, but there's nothing I can do to help the world now. Don't you understand what I'm saying? I'm not modest. In the Legion I was helping to make the world better. I was killing bad people and saving good people. I can't do that anymore and war's all I'm good at."

"You sound like you'd rather be dead."

"Maybe I would," Shinji replied quietly.

"Don't talk like that!" Hikari snapped. "There must be other things you can do."

"Drinking and fighting," Shinji stated, "but I don't think there's a handicapped Savate association."

"What about when you were young?" Hikari demanded. "Asuka told me you played the cello."

"I wasn't very good at it," Shinji stated. He fished around in his pockets and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. "I wasn't worth it."

"You are to me." Shinji stared at her and Hikari met his eyes. "I said that the story kind of slipped out, but I would have done it even if I had time to think about it." Shinji stared at her for several long minutes. "You haven't ruined my life Shinji. All you've done if forced me to go find some other job where I'm going to be paid more." Shinji turned away and considered that.

"Where are you going to go?"

"I was living in Germany before I came here," Hikari explained. "I was supposed to be here for a few years, so I sold my apartment there." Shinji nodded his understanding.

"The Colonel has allowed me to use his house in Calvi. . ."

"Are you asking me to move in with you?" Hikari asked, one eyebrow rising. "You could at least ask me out first." Shinji glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

"I don't get embarrassed anymore."

"That's a shame. A lot of girls thought that was really cute."

"Hmm." Hikari frowned as she thought about that.

"Yes."

"What?"

"Yes, I'll move in with you."

"Alright,"

"Just don't tell the nurses."

"Alright."

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. Okay, I lied. This had no romance. I had to face facts, I'm not a romance writer. If my skills at it get better, I'll write a sequel. This story was fun in an experimental kind of way, but it was still hard for me. I think I'll stick to my more whimsical and gory (yeah, those do sound odd together, but they fit me) ideas. Sorry if this feels rushed. Honestly, I just wanted this to be over. That's something I need to work on too. I always feel like my endings are rushed.

So, for an experiment, what do you guys think? Success? Abysmal failure? Give it to me strait. The alcohol keeps the critics from dragging me down.

Now for the bitch session. As some of you know, I was activated for Toys for Tots. One of my friends thought about that and finally told me: "You hate kids, why are you helping them?" That made me think. I do hate children, though my hate is not unwarranted having spent many years in retail. I also hate adults. Yes, I am a misanthrope. Unbelievable, huh? I don't really despise individuals, but as a species, I can't really stand humans. Children are as bad as adults, but it's not really their faults. Children mirror adults and what they see. Ergo the world makes them horrible. Adults should know better. Of course, teenagers are a completely different story, a far worse story. I have some respect for them for expressing their views, unlike adults, but I still despise them. More on them later.


End file.
